Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10TBILISI57
2010-01-14 14:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tbilisi
Cable title:  

GEORGIA: MISHA'S CEC PICKS -- AN UNIMPRESSIVE

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL GG 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHSI #0057/01 0141448
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 141448Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY TBILISI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2712
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 000057 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2020
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: MISHA'S CEC PICKS -- AN UNIMPRESSIVE
START TO ELECTION SEASON

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES a. i. KENT LOGSDON REASONS: 1.4 (B) A
ND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 000057

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2020
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: MISHA'S CEC PICKS -- AN UNIMPRESSIVE
START TO ELECTION SEASON

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES a. i. KENT LOGSDON REASONS: 1.4 (B) A
ND (D).


1. (C) Summary: As required by law, President Saakashvili
has chosen three candidates to fill the job of Chairman of
the Central Election Commission from a list of 14 presented
to him by an NGO advisory group. Saakashvili's picks
included outgoing CEC Chairman Levan Tarknishvili, Zurab
Kharatishvili, a current member of the GPB board, and Otar
Sichinava, a member of the Constitutional Court. All three
candidates are viewed as pro-government and pro-UNM and their
choice was widely criticized by the opposition. Three
opposition parties with a vote on the CEC -- Republicans,
Conservatives and Labor -- have announced that they will
abstain from voting. The three other opposition parties
represented on the CEC -- CDM, We Ourselves, and
Industrialists -- have stated that they would not vote for
Tarknishvili and were considering the other two largely
unknown candidates. Procedurally, if none of the candidates
receives three votes, the decision will pass to Parliament by
January 15 -- an increasingly likely outcome. End Summary.


2. (C) Comment: Opposition leaders shrugged off
Saakashvili's choice as predictable and downplayed the
importance of Saakashvili's decision other than the obvious
perception problem of his picks. The re-nomination of Levan
Tarknishvili was especially cynical considering that UNM
leaders have showed little to no support for his reelection
and his resignation was offered up by the government as a
result of last spring's political protests. In the end,
Saakashvili exercised his legitimate right according to an
agreed upon process, but, nevertheless, one has to question
whether winning a minor tactical political battle is worth
the increasingly negative perception that resulted both
inside and outside of Georgia, especially considering the
apparent strong electoral position of UNM heading into local
elections. Post will continue to seek opportunities to
stress that following the letter of the law and conceding
only the minimum will continue to foster negative perceptions
of GoG progress on its democratic reform efforts. End

Comment.

Why Tarknishvili?


3. (C) CDM leader Giorgi Targamadze and Vice Speaker Levan
Vepkhadze (CDM) told Poloff that the nomination of
Tarknishvili was "ridiculous". Targamadze noted that
Tarknishvili's nomination was a type of blackmail to make the
opposition choose between two candidates that were acceptable
to Saakashvili. Because the threshold to become chairman is
simply three votes out of six among opposition CEC members
(or a majority),making the choice effectively binary
increased the odds that a chairman would be chosen by the
opposition. Targamadze explained that Saakashvili did this
so he could claim the opposition chose either Kharatishvili
or Sichinava and have at least a facade of political cover.
Vepkhadze said under no circumstances would any opposition
member, nor would most of his colleagues in the parliamentary
majority, support Tarknishvili, whose reputation has not
recovered from his chairmanship of the CEC during the 2008
presidential and parliamentary elections.

Nobody Knows These Guys


4. (C) Targamadze and Vepkhadze both said they knew little
about presumptive candidates Kharatishvili and Sichinava.
According to Targamadze, Sichinava has a solid reputation as
a constitutional judge and has been willing to show some
Qa constitutional judge and has been willing to show some
independence in decisions against the GoG but knew little
more about him. Kharatishvili is an accountant who is a
member of the Georgian Public Broadcaster board and
previously monitored campaign spending under the CEC
umbrella. Neither Targamadze nor Vepkhadze knew much about
Kharatishvili other than his resume. Alex Petriashvili (Our
Georgia - Free Democrats) also knew little about the
Kharatishvili and Sichinava. According to Targamadze and
Vepkhadze, UNM parliamentarians were undecided about the
candidates, lacking any solid opinion on either.

Who Cares - Let's Make the Best of It


5. (C) Petriashvili told Poloff that the Alliance was not
focused on the CEC chairmanship as it viewed the issue as
more of a sideshow than one of major electoral importance.
Petriashvili commented that he thought the choices actually
would draw increasing skepticism as to Saakashvili's
willingness to hold free and fair elections and follow
through with his pledge for more democratic reform.
Petriashvili noted, that if presumptive candidate Gigi
Ugulava was as strong as his polls seem to indicate, it

TBILISI 00000057 002 OF 002


matters little who is the CEC chair. Petriashvili noted that
Saakasvhili appears to have missed a chance to appoint
candidates favorable to the opposition who could have been
well received among international observers and local
observers alike and offered little electoral downside.
Targamadze said it was naive of anybody to think that
Saakashvili would not choose candidate that he believed would
represent his political interests as any ruling party would.
Nonetheless, Targamadze agreed that Saakashvili's credibility
on elections and willingness to engage in dialogue took
another hit with his most recent picks.


6. (C) Vepkhadze told Poloff that CDM seeks to turn the
tables on Saakashvili and intends to make a list of proposals
and pledge support to any candidate who agrees to them. The
proposals include making the deputy chairman and secretary of
the CEC opposition representatives; installing security
cameras in all voting precincts; and assuring opposition
parity on district election committees. Vepkhadze expressed
his disappointment to Poloff that other opposition parties
were lukewarm to the idea, preferring to publicize the
negative political perception angle and abstaining rather
than trying for concrete concessions.

What Happens Next


7. (C) If the six opposition members do not agree on a
candidate among the three on January 14, which appears an
almost certainty, Parliament will vote for the next
chairperson. The Republicans, Labor and Conservatives have
already said they would not vote. Vepkhadze said it was
unlikely that CDM, Industrialists, and We Ourselves could
agree on a single candidate and CDM would not vote for any
candidate who does not agree to its concessions. As a
result, Parliament will likely decide the issue. Both
Targamadze and Vepkhadze said there was no uniformity among
UNM parliamentarians who had been completely kept out of the
loop on the decision making process. Neither Targamadze nor
Vepkhadze expected Tarknishvili to have much of a chance to
be re-elected.

Siradze Doesn't Make the Cut - Is Thrilled


8. (C) As expected, ISFED chairperson, Eka Siradze did not
make the cut for the final three candidates despite having
the most civil society support. Siradze told Poloff before
Saakashvili's announcement that, despite the fact she had 27
NGOs behind her nomination, she was not optimistic that she
would be chosen. After the announcement, Siradze told Poloff
not only was she not surprised that she was not chosen, she
was actually relieved -- even "thrilled", as she did not want
the position. According to Siradze, she agreed to be
nominated to see if Saakashvili would select a candidate
heavily endorsed by civil society. Siradze went on to say
that the politically strategic choice for Saakashvili would
have been to support her as a candidate, and show that he was
willing to select a civil society endorsed candidate
acceptable to the opposition. Siradze said that even as CEC
chairperson, she would have limited ability to affect
elections or ferret out fraud. Selecting her would make
Saakashvili come off as politically reasonable without
damaging UNM's election prospects. Siradze expressed
frustration that Saakashvili continued to ignore civil
society when it did not suit his interests, but counted it as
a small victory that Saakashvili held the NGO meeting and
played by the rules despite missing the initial deadline for
Qselecting the candidates (requiring the law to be amended to
change the deadline).
LOGSDON