Giga Parulava: Otar Partskhaladze may be one of the connecting links between Bidzina and Russia - the fact that criminal prosecution has been launched against him changes nothing; it is a farce and a sham

“Georgian Dream” is trying to tailor the Election Code to its own interests and further refine electoral fraud mechanisms at the legislative level,” said Giga Parulava, Deputy Chair of the parliamentary faction of For Georgia, during an appearance on PalitraNews’ program Day’s Newsroom, commenting on the planned amendments to electoral legislation.

According to Parulava, Georgian Dream is eliminating the intermediate level in the Election Code, namely the district election commission summary protocol, thereby granting the Central Election Commission (CEC) the authority to assess both local self-government and parliamentary election results based on the results submitted by district election commissions.

“Unfortunately, in recent years we have become accustomed to Georgian Dream trying to tailor the Election Code to its own interests and further refine electoral fraud mechanisms at the legislative level. In doing so, it seeks to make the manipulative methods and techniques that could produce results in its favour even easier to use.

A year ago, they adopted a new Election Code, which, naturally, our political team did not support. At the time, we also raised relevant objections and put forward proposals, none of which were taken into account.

As for the amendments planned today, they differ radically from the legal provisions adopted by them a year ago. The substantive change being introduced is that an authorised person will no longer be able to challenge the CEC's summary protocol on substantive grounds. A specific article is being added, explicitly stating that the CEC's summary protocol may be challenged only on technical grounds.

They are completely eliminating the intermediate level in the Election Code, namely the district election commission summary protocol, and granting the CEC the authority to assess both local self-government and parliamentary election results based on the district commissions' results.

The district election commission's summary protocol is being eliminated altogether. Under the existing system, an authorised person could also challenge systemic violations at the polling-station level, such as vote-buying and so-called ‘carousel voting’. These violations might not affect the outcome at the level of a single polling station, but they naturally have an impact when the results of several polling stations are aggregated.

Under this specific version of the amendments, Georgian Dream reduces the CEC's summary protocol to a matter of basic arithmetic. It can be challenged only if the results submitted by polling station commissions have been transferred incorrectly into the summary protocol due to some technical error.

Along with restricting the right to challenge summary protocols, Georgian Dream is also abolishing mandatory recounts, under which five polling stations in each district were randomly selected and their results recounted.

If Georgian Dream genuinely claims that it has the resources and is not afraid of elections, it should naturally do everything possible to ensure that all interested parties, political entities and observers have the opportunity to challenge results and make the electoral process more transparent.

Since they began tailoring the Election Code to their own interests, you can assume that they are constantly preparing to hold snap elections whenever it suits them or to create favourable conditions for 2028,” Parulava said.

In addition, Giga Parulava discussed the case currently before the Constitutional Court concerning the lawsuit seeking to declare five opposition parties unconstitutional. He explained that the new political forces whose emergence Georgian Dream is announcing will, in fact, serve as vehicles for implementing the ruling party's policies on the political stage.

According to Parulava, he does not expect Georgian Dream to provide objective and specific answers in court to the questions raised by the opposition.

“Society is closely following what is happening at the Constitutional Court. Georgian Dream's declared rhetoric is that the parties will be banned very soon. At the same time, they are announcing the emergence of new parties on the political scene. Clearly, these parties will be implementing Georgian Dream's policies.

Our questions during the proceedings concern the state interests that Georgian Dream is harming today. However, it is clear that we cannot expect them to provide objective and specific answers to these questions.

What matters here is for the public, and particularly Georgian Dream's voters, to observe these proceedings and listen to the rhetoric they are using. Giorgi Gakharia is being put on trial precisely through the rhetoric of the occupying power. When your rhetoric coincides with that of the occupying power, it certainly cannot serve the country's interests,” Parulava explained.

In addition to these issues, Giga Parulava also spoke about Otar Partskhaladze and his recent statements, including his claim that “Georgia will only be strong together with Russia.”

The politician said it was possible that Partskhaladze himself was the link connecting the ruling authorities to Russia, while the criminal prosecution initiated against him was nothing more than a farce and a sham.

“Partskhaladze has openly declared that he is a Russian agent and that he is fighting on Russia's side against Ukraine. We must tell society that people of this kind do not act in line with our country's interests. Their actions run counter to Georgia's historical interests. Therefore, it is impossible for this man's messages to hold any value for our country.

He is an agent of Russian interests in Georgia. What could be a greater tragedy or crime than that?

The legal prosecution of Partskhaladze is a farce and a sham. If they had genuinely wanted to prosecute and detain him, they would not have allowed the National Bank to adopt the decision that enabled him to transfer all his assets out of Georgia.

This is being done to give society the impression that they distance themselves from his rhetoric. But in reality, Partskhaladze himself may be the person who serves, so to speak, as one of the connecting links between Bidzina and Russia.

Therefore, the fact that criminal prosecution has been initiated against him changes absolutely nothing,” Giga Parulava stated.