Tbilisi: On June 18, the representative of the public defender office of Georgia held a meeting with local and international organisations. The meeting was held to provide information about the public defender office’s plans and issues along with challenges relating to the elections.
The public defender of Georgia Levan Yoseliyan stated “In the present circumstances of increased polarization there are high expectations that some elements who despite the limited mandate and resources may disturb the election process . He also underlined the readiness of the regional representations of the defender office in terms of appropriate response to facts of rights violations during the pre-election period and voting.”
At the same time the first deputy public defender Tamar Gvaramadze spoke about the issues of receiving information about violations during the pre-election period which are being addressed on a priority basis and effective response and long-term decisions are being taken in this regard as well. Work is being done on the importance of the maintenance of existing response mechanisms and the improvement of coordination during acts of violence and arrests.
On the other hand the participants of the meeting while expressing their views underlined the importance of the more active involvement of the defender office to address the complaints during the pre-election and election processes under extraordinary circumstances. Moreover they talked about effective cooperation with the office of the public defender in the issues relating to finding those arrested during the actions and monitoring their rights.
It is also specifically to be mentioned that at the meeting the participants emphasized the negative impact of the Georgian law on transparency in the non-governmental sector. The meeting was held within the framework of the USAID(United States AID) partnership program with the support of the American people as well as with the help of the US Agency for International Development.
According to some experts and political opponents it is a very crucial time for the authorities to conduct a fair and transparent election as the country has witnessed large scale protest against the ruling government due to which the ruling regime could misuse the state machinery to influence the election results in their favour.
