Georgia: The President of Georgia will appoint the regular elections of the Parliament of Georgia on October 26, so the Georgian pre-election period began on August 27, 2024.
For the first time this year, parliamentary elections will be held in a fully proportional system. This year’s parliamentary elections are also important because, for the first time in Georgia’s history, they will be held through electronic means, which almost 90% of voters can use.
Holding the next parliamentary elections in a free, fair, and peaceful environment is essential for the country’s democratic development and European integration. Therefore, given the highly polarized pre-election period of last year’s elections and the threat of further polarization in the current environment, the People’s Ombudsman of Georgia and the Central Election Commission, together as two independent constitutional institutions, would like to urge all parties involved in the political and pre-election processes to contribute to the formation of a proper electoral environment.
Electoral integrity and a healthy election environment are fundamental for the functioning of a democratic society. However, when an election process is accompanied by hate speech and personal attacks on those involved, it directly weakens the electoral environment.
Unfortunately, during the election period, encouraging discrimination against people and using hate language is actively observed by the electoral entities under various signs. In the past years, representatives and members of election commissions have become the targets of such attacks. At the same time, political debates are characterized by offensive statements from the participants to each other. Sexist attitudes towards women in political life are particularly obvious, which is often used as a weapon of political war against them. The People’s Ombudsman and the Central Election Commission emphasize that such facts are detrimental and impede the creation of a fair and peaceful electoral environment.
In addition, the conduct of the electoral administration and the smooth running of the electoral processes are crucial for forming high public trust in these processes, which is, in turn, essential for the democratic development of the country.
Given the large-scale implementation of electronic technologies and the essential role of the electoral administration in general, the promotion of all parties should be allowed to fully discharge its duties in a peaceful and hate speech environment.
Political party leaders/representatives, relevant candidates, their supporters, and political officials must take high political and civic responsibility and promote pluralistic, violent, and hate speech campaigns.
Candidates’ campaigns must focus on engaging, campaign-oriented discussions to cultivate a political culture centered on democratic values.
At the same time, the special role of the media in terms of controlling the free and fair conduct of the pre-election campaign is noteworthy. Media representatives must provide adequate explanations and critically respond to such facts when covering election campaigns.
Ultimately, avoiding hate speech is essential to ensuring election integrity and maintaining a healthy election environment. The yes mentioned in one part guarantees fairness, wide participation, constructive political discussion, and protection of human rights.
