Lokale Wahlen in Georgien - local elections in Georgia >> Nachrichten - news >> Allyson Schwartz praises Georgia`s municipal elections - 15.06.10, Rustavi 2 Congressional Georgia Caucasus Representative Allyson Schwartz sent a letter to her colleagues, members of the U.S. Congress regarding the Local Election Results held in Georgia on May 30, 2010. `Evaluated by international monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the elections marked very positive progress towards meeting international standards for democratic elections. While there still remained some technical irregularities in the administration of the elections, overall the elections were organized in a transparent, inclusive and professional manner. We are encouraged by the Central Election Commission`s efforts to increase transparency and responsiveness to electoral concerns, and look forward to continuing to work with the Republic of Georgia to help them fully realize free and fair elections`, the letter says. Vice Speaker of Georgia Parliament Gigi Tsereteli has scheduled a meeting with Allyson Schwartz in Washington for today. Überblick zur Berichterstattung im Fernsehen bezüglich der lokalen Wahlen - 05.06.2010, Civil Georgia Imedi TV has dedicated almost half of its election-related coverage in its main news programs started from April 26 to the incumbent Tbilisi mayor candidate, Gigi Ugulava - more than any other five television stations being under monitoring in frames of project supported by EU Delegation to Georgia and UN Development Programme (UNDP). Imedi TV's coverage of Ugulava was either positive or neutral. Follow links below to view details of monitoring results: Length of coverage time allocated to candidates and coverage tone May 26-June 1 - pdf Aggregate results for all four weeks on length and tone of coverage April 26-June 1 – pdf Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) has been monitoring main news bulletins and selected talk shows on three national television stations - public broadcaster's First Channel; Rustavi 2 TV and Imedi TV and three local Tbilisi stations - Kavkasia TV; Maestro TV and Real TV.
"Alliance for Georgia" zweifelt das Ergebnis in einem
Wahldistrikt in Tbilisi an - 04.06.2010, Civil Georgia USA über die lokalen Wahlen in Georgien: Fortschritte zu
int. Standards - 03.06.2010, Civil Georgia
Präsident Saakashvili: nach den lokalen Wahlen nun Zeit, um mit den Reformen voranzuschreiten, da nächste Wahlen erst 2012 - 02.06.2010, Civil Georgia Danish observers observe insigificant irregularities at May 30 polls - 31.05.10, Rustavi 2
“I think that we, as the best organized and leading political force in Georgia, have a double responsibility,” Saakashvili said in televised remarks made at a meeting with lawmakers from his ruling National Movement party. “The first is to maintain the existing course of reforms – despite all difficulties, despite the fact that a new wave of economic crisis is raging in the world – and to bring the launched work to the end. And the second is to hold exemplary elections so that nobody has a reason to put a justified blame on us, as [these local elections] have a great internal and external political importance in terms of our security,” he said. “I think that many steps were made forward by the election commission recently. There is unimaginable accessibility to media outlets. I do not know any election campaigns in many places of the world where all parties can talk on all TV channels for so many hours, where all parties can put their ads on all TV channels, including unprofitably for these channels, and of course, it has not remained unnoticed, including for foreign observers.” He criticized opposition for making, as he said, unrealistic election promises of “cosmic scales”. ... Übersicht zur lokalen Wahl - 21.05.2010, Civil Georgia Voters in Georgia will elect 64 new municipal councils in May 30 local elections for a four-year term. The major focus of the local elections is made on contest in the capital city, Tbilisi, which will directly elect its mayor for the first time. Outcome of mayoral contest, as well as of party contest for Tbilisi Sakrebulo (City Council), in the capital city, where one-third of the country’s voters are concentrated, is believed to largely determine the country’s political landscape in run up to presidential elections in 2013, when Mikheil Saakashvili’s second and final term in office expires. Municipal Councils (Sakrebulo) Formally there are 69 local municipal councils (Sakrebulo), but authority of five of them will be automatically prolonged without elections; these are those five councils, which before the August, 2008 were located in the Georgian-controlled areas of breakaway Abkhazia (in Kodori gorge) and South Ossetia (Eredvi, Tigvi, Kurta and Akhalgori). All the Councils are composed through both majoritarian and party-list, proportional system. Proportional Contest The seats allocated under the proportional system are distributed to the parties and election blocs, which clear a 5% threshold in provincial regions. Lower threshold of 4% is set for Tbilisi City Council proportional contest. Number of seats in majority of Councils distributed through proportional system is 10. Exception is the capital city, where total of 25 proportional seats are for grab and three other major cities – Kutaisi, Batumi and Rustavi, where 15 seats in each are contested. There are total of 670 proportional seats for grab in all 64 Councils. Majoritarian Contest Number of majoritarian seats varies in various municipal councils, depending on their size. The largest is Tbilisi, where 25 majoritarian seats are for grab (there is total of 50 seats in the Tbilisi City Council). In Tbilisi total of 228 majoritarian candidates have been nominated by about dozen of political parties and election blocs. Number of contenders in each of 25 single-mandate constituencies varies from at least 7 to 11. Councils of three other major cities – Kutaisi, Rustavi and Batumi – have 10 majoritarian seats each and there are five majoritarian seats in Poti. There are total of 1,025 majoritarian seats for grab in all 64 Councils. Mayoral Race Tbilisi is the only city in Georgia where mayor is elected through direct vote. Mayors of four other major cities – Kutaisi, Rustavi, Batumi and Poti – are elected by the local municipal Councils. The same rule was applied for Tbilisi as well, but it was changed as a result of amendments to the election code in December, 2009. In other provincial municipalities, a head of district (Gamgebeli as it is called in Georgian) is appointed through the approval of local Councils. There are nine candidates running for the Tbilisi mayoral office: Gigi Ugulava, an incumbent Tbilisi mayor, nominated by the ruling party; Irakli Alasania, leader of Alliance for Georgia; Giorgi Chanturia, nominated by Christian-Democratic Movement; Gogi Topadze, leader of Industry Will Save Georgia (Industrialists); Zviad Dzidziguri, leader of Conservative Party, nominated by a coalition, which also includes Party of People and ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia; Davit Iakobidze, nominated by Democratic Party of Georgia; Nika Ivanishvili, head nominated by his newly established party Popular Democrats; Tamaz Vashadze, nominated by Solidarity party; Giorgi Lagidze, leader of Future Georgia party. A candidate, who receives no less than 30% votes will be declared winner. If no one clears the 30% threshold, a run off will take place within a month between the two candidates who obtain the highest number of votes. Election Administration Central Election Commission (CEC) is the main body administering elections. CEC is composed of 13 members, including its chairman Zurab Kharatishvili, who was elected on the post by the Parliament in January, 2010. Seven members of CEC are from following political parties: ruling National Movement party; Labor Party (the party boycotts the local elections); Conservative Party; Industrialists; Republican Party (part of Alliance for Georgia); On Our Own party and Christian-Democratic Movement – these two latter parties have formed an election bloc to run in the elections on a joint ticket. Five remaining CEC members were nominated by the President and appointed by the Parliament. There are 73 District Election Commissions (DEC) – middle-level election administrations. There are over 3,600 Precinct Election Commissions (PEC), which are the lowest level of election administrations, but of crucial importance as they are in charge of administering polling stations and are first bodies to count votes. Like CEC, each PEC and DEC has 13 members and distribution of seats in PECs and DECs among the political parties is similar to the one in CEC. | Lokale Wahlen in Georgien -
local elections in Georgia >> Infos zu den Kandidaten der Bürgermeisterwahl in Tbilisi: Gigi Ugulava - Irakli Alasania - Giorgi Chanturia - Zviad Dzidziguri - Gogi Topadze 05.05.2010, Civil Georgia OSZE-PRESSEMITTEILUNG - OSCE PRESS RELEASE Georgian local elections mark evident progress, but significant shortcomings remain to be addressed - 31.05.2010, OSZE Yesterday's municipal elections in Georgia marked evident progress towards meeting international standards, but significant shortcomings remain to be addressed, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities concluded in a statement released today. The election administration organized these elections in a transparent, inclusive and professional manner, but systemic irregularities were observed on election day in some regions, including several cases of ballot box stuffing and procedural violations during the vote count. The observers also noted deficiencies in the legal framework and its implementation, and characterized the campaign environment as an uneven playing field favouring contestants from the incumbent party. The Georgian public broadcaster provided overall balanced coverage. The authorities made efforts to pro-actively address problems, including improving the quality of the voter lists. Nevertheless, the low level of public confidence in the election process persisted. The observers said further efforts in resolutely tackling recurring misconduct are required in order to consolidate the progress achieved and enhance public trust before the next national elections. "These elections were marked by clear improvements and efforts by the authorities to address problems occurring during the process. It is now time to fix the remaining shortcomings and take effective steps to prevent electoral malpractices before the next elections at the national level," said Ambassador Audrey Glover, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR long-term Election Observation Mission. "The municipal councils, the mayors and - more specifically - the directly elected Mayor of Tbilisi have now to solve the social and economic problems of the country which are serious. From the perspective of locally elected representatives, responsible regional stability policies are key in this respect. The Congress is ready to accompany and assist Georgia in this direction, in particular with regard to the development of local democracy and citizens' participation," said Günther Krug, Head of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities delegation. "Strong democracy is built from local level upwards so we were particularly pleased to see the high level of engagement and interest of young people, women and minorities in these elections. We hope that, as shortcomings are addressed and confidence develops, many of them will move from involvement in the process to be the candidates of the future," said Sharon Taylor, speaker of the members of the European Union's Committee of the Regions in the Congress delegation. International election observers to present findings at press conference in Tbilisi on Monday - 29.05.2010, OSZE The international observers deployed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities will present their preliminary statement at a news conference on Monday. The preliminary statement will be delivered by Gunther Krug, Head of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities delegation, and Ambassador Audrey Glover, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR long-term Election Observation Mission. A representative of the European Union's Committee of the Regions, which participates in the Congress delegation, will also speak at the press conference. The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission comprises 249 observers from more than 40 countries, including 41 long-term and 208 short-term observers. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities deployed 17 observers. Journalists are invited to the news conference at 14:00 on Monday, 31 May at the Sheraton Metechi in Tbilisi. For further information contact: Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer, OSCE/ODIHR, mobile: 899 53 82 08 or +48 603 683 122, jens.eschenbaecher@odihr.pl Renate Zikmund, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, +33 6 59 78 64 55, renate.zikmund@coe.int CEC-PRESSEMITTEILUNG - CEC PRESS RELEASE 26 Parteien registriert, sich um die lokalen Wahlen zu bewerben Parteien Registered to Run in Local Elections -14 .04.2010, Civil Georgia Central Election Commission (CEC) registered 26 political parties to run in the May 30 local elections: 1. Democratic Party of Georgia; 2. Future Georgia; 3. National-Democratic Party; 4. Political Movement - Solidarity; 5. Our Georgia–Free Democrats; 6. Republican Party; 7. Political Union - New Rights Party; 8. Political Union - Public Democrats; 9. Political Party – Our Country (Chveni Kvekana); 10. Christian-Democratic Movement; 11. Political Union of Citizens - Christian-Democratic Peoples’ Party; 12. Georgian Troupe (Kartuli Dasi); 13. Political Union of Citizens - Public Alliance of Whole Georgia; 14. Political Union 'On Our Own'; 15. Movement – Justice for Georgia; 16. The National Party of Radical Democrats of Georgia; 17. Conservative Party of Georgia; 18. Political Union - Tavisupleba; 19. Georgia's Way; 20. Party of Peoples’ Party; 21. Political Union – United National Movement; 22. Party of Future; 23. Political Movement of Law enforcement Veterans, Patriots and Pensioners – Mamulishvili; 24. Industry Will Save Georgia (Industrialists); 25. Union of Georgian Sportsmen; 26. Movement for United Georgia; Deadline for registration expired on April 13. Total of 36 parties have applied for registration, but ten of them were rejected in registration on the grounds that six of them failed to submit required 30,000 signatures of supporters and four of them, including Greens Party had inaccuracies in the submitted signatures of supporters, CEC said. Some of the registered parties are expected to form election blocs; for example, New Rights, Republican Party; Our Georgia-Free Democrats and Georgia’s Way are united in the Alliance for Georgia, which will be formally established as a bloc. Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM), a leading party in the parliamentary minority group, announced about the plans to establish election bloc with On Our Own party and Christian-Democratic Peoples’ Party. Ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia, Conservative Party and Party of People are also united in an alliance known as National Council. 36 parties have applied for registration:
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