Georgia: A clean vote on May 21?

Molly Corso: 5/20/08

It has been billed as a test of Georgia's democratic credentials. But while Georgian officials have vowed that the May 21 parliamentary elections will be free and fair, an array of problems have surfaced in the days leading up to the polling, according to election observers.

For the government, the stakes are huge. At issue most immediately is whether or not the election will advance Georgia's campaign to be offered a Membership Action Plan from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization this December. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

In a televised speech on the afternoon of May 20, outgoing Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze appealed to local government officials and police to "create all the necessary conditions to ensure that each citizen has a possibility to make a free choice."

Violators of election laws should be "strictly held responsible before the law," while election commission officials should conduct a thorough examination of reported irregularities, she stressed, according to a translation provided by online news service Civil Georgia.

Burjanadze herself, however, will not be running for reelection with the ruling United National Movement for a Victorious Georgia. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Her remarks, however, largely echo similar recent appeals by President Mikheil Saakashvili, head of the United National Movement, and other leading governing party figures.

Nonetheless, one of the most controversial points for Georgia's elections – media coverage and reported bias – was not addressed in the parliamentary speaker's speech. In a nation of devout television viewers, news broadcasts carry particular weight, and allegations of irregularities have been championed by the opposition.

As was the case for Georgia's presidential vote, a May 15 report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's election observation mission found that there has been a "lack of balance" in prime-time news coverage of election candidates.

Media monitoring carried out by Georgian Opinion Research Business International for Transparency International Georgia between April 9 and May 5 indicated that while Georgian public broadcasting has been fairly successful in maintaining a time balance between all political parties, private pro-government broadcasters like Rustavi-2 and Mze have given the United National Movement more time and more positive coverage.

While Transparency International Georgia Executive Director Tamuna Karosanidze commented that the findings showed a "slight improvement" from the January presidential elections, she noted that, in general, Georgian journalists still appear to have difficulty in distinguishing between stories about political campaigning and stories about the government's public works.

"There is not a definite line between [the governing] party and [its] campaign," Karosanidze said. "It is hard even for journalists to draw a line."

Some television journalists also appear to be having difficulty making that distinction. On May 1, the popular Rustavi-2 talk show PrimeTime broadcast a series of video profiles for National Movement party list candidates. The talk show is a joint project between the PrimeTime Analytical and Consulting Group and a television studio, TBC TV.

The video clips were part of a PrimeTime project that gave each political party taking part in the elections 90 minutes to campaign on-air.

EurasiaNet has learned, however, that the May 1 PrimeTime clips were created on commission by a TBC TV producer, Davit Gersamaia, for the advertising company that is handling the National Movement's promotional campaign for the elections.

Gersamaia, who works as a freelance television producer for various clients in addition to his regular job at TBC TV, declined to comment about an apparent conflict of interest between his work for the National Movement, and his job for the PrimeTime talk show. "I have my own production team at the TBC TV studio," he said. "If someone pays me money, I work for them." TBC TV studio could not be reached for comment.

Levan Bakhia, a partner at Sarke, the agency that handles the bulk of the National Movement's promotional work, states that his firm hired 15 teams of producers, directors, videographers and other film professionals to make clips for the party, including for the PrimeTime show. "These groups were made up of all different people; we hired independent film makers, directors.... We hired some journalists also from different places," Bakhia said.

He noted that no group was hired specifically for the video profiles that were shown on the PrimeTime talk show. An executive from the talk show's other co-producer, the PrimeTime Analytical and Consulting Group, said that the origin of the clips was of "no concern" to the company.

Under its co-production agreement with TBC TV, the Prime Time Analytical and Consulting Group is nominally in charge of all editorial material used on the PrimeTime talk show. TBC TV handles the show's technical preparations and studio arrangements. Tamar Pkhakadze, the company's director, states that the PrimeTime Analytical and Consulting Group simply took materials provided by TBC TV to put the May 1 talk show together. She denies that there is any conflict of interest involved in the usage of the film clips. "[TBC TV studio] is a private studio," said Pkhakadze "Who pays money for what, or what they prepare does not concern us. It is a private studio and that is their business. "

Pkhakadze added that the PrimeTime Analytical and Consulting Group itself has never received money from Sarke or the National Movement for their own work on the PrimeTime talk show. "The project is prepared here at PrimeTime," she said. "Simply through them [TBC TV], we put it on the air."

The United National Movement echoes that argument. In an interview with EurasiaNet, Giorgi Gabashvili, a former minister of culture, and the party's #11 candidate, confirmed that Sarke had been commissioned to make the PrimeTime clips for the party, but asserted that the ad agency's use of a journalist associated with the show to do the work does not violate any ethical norms.

"That is not a conflict of interest because the service is done by Davit Gersamaia, who is an independent producer," Gabashvili said. "[He] works for the [TBC TV] studio, but also for other studios." Gabashvili added that TBC TV itself was not paid for the work. "We paid an individual person," he said.

Georgian Public Broadcasting radio journalist Davit Paichadze, a media monitor for the presidential elections, suggested that the arrangement could be considered a violation of journalism ethics. While adding that he is not familiar with the details surrounding the PrimeTime profiles, Paichadze noted that there are "written and unwritten rules" for journalists.

Georgian journalists, he added, are not very "concerned with the violation of professional ethics" in matters that touch on potential conflicts of interest.

Under Georgian election law rules, all television broadcasting related to the elections stopped at midnight on May 20.

While opposition parties have not complained about the PrimeTime profiles, there appears to be mounting frustration among the government's critics about the election process itself. International and local observers noted during a May 20 news conference that the opposition politicians and their supporters became more aggressive, both physically and verbally, as the election drew closer.

At a May 18 United Opposition Movement protest in a central district of Tbilisi, former presidential candidate Levan Gachechiladze, the Movement's leader, called on hundreds of supporters to rally at the Central Election Commission on election night to protect their votes.

"I call on you to gather here at 11pm on May 21 and we will announce the real results of the elections," he said. "If they [the authorities] do not announce the real results voluntarily, we will force them to announce it."

In her May 20 comments, Parliament Speaker Burjanadze indirectly addressed the protest plans. "Everyone should understand that there are winners and losers in elections," she told television viewers. "And even if the result is unacceptable for a political group, if this result objectively reflects the mood and choice of the Georgian voters, it should be accepted and respected by everyone."

International observers have earlier taken issue with the opposition for concentrating on alleged future election violations to the exclusion of detailed policy proposals. [For background, see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The latest report from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Election Observation Mission highlighted several areas of concern heading into the vote. Aside from media bias, the OSCE/ODIHR mission's April 26-May 9 report stated that it "has received numerous allegations of widespread intimidation, illegal campaigning by public servants, and abuse of administrative resources." The report also noted that "several" of the cases of intimidation can be "substantiated."

The OSCE/ODIHR report also credits the government for addressing some of its concerns after the January 5 presidential elections including "strong statements" from the president against public officials "interfering" with the election process. The report also noted that the Central Election Commission extended the deadline for the voter list for three days to allow the public more time to review the lists.

Accusations of intimidation against public officials were a major complaint during the January 2008 early presidential elections and monitors have stressed the need for more follow-up during the parliament campaign. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Giorgi Chkheidze, chairperson of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, an influential local non-governmental organization monitoring the vote, claims that the cases of intimidation have increased as the election grows closer.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Free and Fair Elections (IATF), a group of high-ranking government officials from five ministries and the general prosecutor's office, is refuting the criticism. In a statement released in response to the May 15 OSCE/ODIHR report, the IATF said that it is "alarmed" by reports of intimidation, especially against teachers. The task force noted that the Ministry of Education has taken "safeguarding measures" to protect teachers from "politically motivated abuse."

One senior foreign advisor to the government argues that Georgia is, in fact, doing everything possible to address such problem areas. "You must really be blind to say there haven't been improvements" since the presidential elections, former Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar told a May 20 briefing of foreign journalists.

Increased television coverage of the opposition, a greater variety of opposition campaign ads and attempts by the National Movement to punish party members for election violations are among the positive changes cited by Laar. The government understands that an election marred by severe violations will mean that Georgia "will really lose a lot of international credibility, no matter what the National Movement[‘s] returns," Laar said.

Editor's Note: Molly Corso is a freelance journalist based in Tbilisi. Elizabeth Owen, EurasiaNet's Caucasus news editor in Tbilisi, added reporting to this story.

Posted May 20, 2008 © Eurasianet