Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TBILISI2073
2008-11-06 14:16:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tbilisi
Cable title:  

GEORGIA: UNM STRONG IN ADJARA ELECTIONS, DESPITE

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM GG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4638
PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSI #2073/01 3111416
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 061416Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TBILISI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0365
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3982
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2210
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 002073 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: UNM STRONG IN ADJARA ELECTIONS, DESPITE
ANNULLMENTS

REF: TBILISI 2018

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Kent D. Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (
b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 002073

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: UNM STRONG IN ADJARA ELECTIONS, DESPITE
ANNULLMENTS

REF: TBILISI 2018

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Kent D. Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (
b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Begin Summary: Extremely low turnout marked
by-elections in two Tbilisi districts held on November 3 to
fill two vacant seats that opposition parties refused to fill
after the May elections. The Christian-Democratic Movement
(CDM) candidate won the Vake seat. In Didube, the National
Democratic Party (NDP) won its first Parliamentary seat in a
decade. In elections in Adjara for the 18-seat Supreme
Council of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, the ruing
United National Movement (UNM) won a landslide victory taking
78.8 percent of the vote. The CDM also passed the 5 percent
threshold with 14.7 percent. Turnout in Adjara was just
under 45 percent. Due to allegations of manipulating the
results of the vote after the polls had closed (presumably to
increase turnout numbers),the Supreme Election Council of
Adjara annulled the results of the entire District of
Khelvachauri and ten precincts in the Shuakhevi and Khulo
regions. In Khelvachauri, repeat proportional elections will
be held on November 16, and the majoritarian race will be
re-run on December 14. Embassy Tbilisi provided three
election observation teams in Adjara and three in Tbilisi.
The UK Embassy, supplemented by individuals from local
international organizations, sponsored 11 teams in Adjara,
and noted some serious problems, that seemed to indicate that
local and regional officials manipulated election results in
an effort to increase turnout percentages. The Council of
Europe also observed. Despite their calls for new
parliamentary elections, most non-Parliamentary opposition
parties boycotted this round. End summary.


2. (C) Comment: In both Tbilisi and Adjara PECs, the
Embassy's observation teams noted much-improved election-day
processes and administration in all election districts in
comparison with January presidential and May parliamentary
elections. It appeared that the Central Election Commission
(CEC) and IFES have made significant progress in training
election officials. In addition, CEC Chairman Levan

Tarkhnishvili told Poloff that the CEC, and by association
the government, had made strong statements to local leaders
to run the election in a transparent and fair manner.
Despite these messages, it appears in several districts that
tradition trumped instruction, as local officials attempted
to manipulate results after the polls closed. The government
quickly announced it would annul results in several areas
where fraud was high, including the entire district of
Khelvachauri. The IRI Chief of Party told Poloff that the
chairman of the Khelvachauri district election commission
would be removed. If the government's investigation of
complaints is transparent and transgressors are punished,
this would be a first for the government, and a strong
display of accountability. End comment.

LOW TURNOUT IN TBILISI


3. (U) The low turnout and results in Tbilisi were largely as
expected (reftel),except for the NDP's surprisingly-strong
win in Didube. In Didube, turnout was slightly better than
expected at 11.4 percent. Guram Chakhvadze, the National
Democratic Party (NDP),conducted a serious election
campaign. He worked closely with the International
Republican Institute on his campaign strategy. This paid
off, as his win, with 5272 votes, gave his party its first
Parliamentary seat in a decade. Natela Mikiashvili of
QParliamentary seat in a decade. Natela Mikiashvili of
"Kartuli Dasi," garnered only 1413 votes and Jemal
Natelashvili of the Radical Democrats received 724 votes.
CDM candidate Tamaz Kvachantiradze won the seat in Vake.
With just 7.6 percent of Vake voters turning out,
Kvachantiradze received 2940 votes, compared to 2363 for
Levan Asatiani of the party, "We Ourselves." Kakha Koridze
from Jondi Baghaturia's "Kartuli Dasi" party received 1577.
The turnout was so low in both districts that Embassy
observers visited multiple polling stations where they did
not see a single voter.

UNM SWEEPS ADJARA


4. (U) In Adjara, also on November 3, the UNM won a landslide
victory in elections for the Supreme Council of the
Autonomous Republic of Adjara. The previous Supreme Council
consisted of 30 seats. In August 2008, the body changed the
election code and reduced the number of seats to 18 for the
newly-elected Supreme Council. Of these 18 seats, 12 are
proportionally-distributed by party list. The other six

TBILISI 00002073 002 OF 002


seats are majoritarian, one for each of Adjara's six regions:
Batumi, Kobluleti, Khelvachauri, Keda, Shuakhevi, and Khulo.
The UNM took 78.8 percent of the popular vote, and swept all
of the majoritarian races, giving the UNM 17 seats. The only
other party to pass the 5 percent threshold was the CDM,
which received 14.7 percent, and one party list seat.
Preliminary results from the election commission showed
turnout at just under 45 percent.

CEC ANNULS QUESTIONABLE RESULTS


5. (C) In some Adjaran PECs, including Shuakhevi and Khulo
regions, turnout was extremely high, in some cases even
exceeding 100 percent! CEC Chairman Levan Tarkhnishvili told
Poloff on November 4 that this "unusually high turnout" led
the Supreme Election Council to annul those PECs.
Additionally, Tarkhnishvili said complaints by local and
international observers, a CEC representative, and internal
PEC members were the reason behind the annulment of the
entire District of Khelvachauri. CDM Vice-Speaker Levan
Vepkhvadze and UNM Chairman of the Legal Issues Committee
Paliko Kublashvili were also observing in Batumi, as members
of the Inter-faction group of Parliament. The CEC chairman
also told Poloff that local officials had been warned by the
central government to not interfere with the election or
inflate results. Despite these warnings, he said these
people did so anyway and "need to be punished." In
Khelvachauri, repeat proportional elections will be held on
November 16, and the majoritarian race will be re-run on
December 14.

EMBASSY, USAID, UK OBSERVE


6. (SBU) Embassy Tbilisi provided three election observation
teams in Adjara. Teams visited several remote PECs in the
mountains, as well as in all six districts. Poloff filed one
formal complaint at PEC #1 in Khelvachauri district. The
complaint stemmed from the PEC Chairman and a District
Election Commission representative (present in the PEC)
intentionally not following proper counting and tabulation
procedures. They persisted in forging the final protocol
even after these improper procedures were pointed out. The
British Embassy sponsored 11 teams. They noticed some
serious problems throughout the day, including busing voters
to the polls, intimidation of local observers, ballot
stuffing, and intentional manipulation of protocols. UK
Poloff submitted a list of the most serious violations his
teams observed to Tarkhnishvili. Embassy observers in
Tbilisi noticed no violations of election day procedures.

MANY OPPOSITION PARTIES BOYCOTT


7. (U) The Republican Party, the United Opposition, the New
Rights Party the Labor Party and others outside of
Parliament, boycotted both elections. The Industrialists
party, led by former MP Zurab Tkemaladze, participated in
Adjara, but not in the Tbilisi elections. They complained,
however, that they were not given access to TV airtime, even
though they receive state party funding due to their results
in the 2006 local elections. Tarkhnishvili disagreed with
the Industrialists' interpretation of the law, saying that
their 2006 election results only give them air time in a
presidential election. He added however, that the Georgian
Public Broadcaster had offered the Industrialists free air
time in Adjara, which they refused.
LOGSDON