Following the appeal from the two opposition coalitions, the Central Election Commission has explained that it cannot annul the party lists.
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"The current legislation does not provide for the cancellation of candidates' registration in the party lists before the powers of the newly elected deputies are recognized. This applies both in the case of requests from political parties and personal statements, and no other regulation is provided by the Election Code," said Giorgi Santuriani, head of the CEC's legal department.
Two of the four opposition parties that passed the threshold in the parliamentary elections have appealed to the CEC to cancel the lists. According to the leaders of Coalition for Change and Unity - National Movement, Nika Gvaramia and Tina Bokuchava, all the members of their lists are refusing the parliamentary mandates resulting from the allegedly falsified elections.
"The letters we have sent to the CEC express our free will, and we request that none of us, none of the individuals who appeared on the electoral list of Unity - National Movement, be granted a temporary mandate. We should not be registered, nor should our names be sent to Parliament to have our rights recognized," said Bokuchava.
Nika Gvaramia emphasized that their request is "legally correct," though he did not rule out the possibility that "the CEC and Parliament may begin making illegal decisions."
"As many times as necessary, all 82 members of this list will sign the waiver. We hereby confirm that the parliament is illegitimate and our participation in it is excluded. We cannot give it legitimacy by our presence," Gvaramia said.
The other parties that crossed the threshold also plan to forgo their mandates and close their lists, although they have not yet applied to the CEC. Gakharia for Georgia party has criticized the initiative of Tina Bokuchava and Nika Gvaramia as "populist."
"There is no legal basis for such an action. We will follow our own plan. We have said, and we still say today, that we will not give legitimacy to this parliament," said Beka Liluashvili, one of the leaders of Gakharia for Georgia party.
