The Central Election Commission of Georgia has suspended the registration process of the Georgian Idea party as an electoral entity. Following the cancellation of the Conservative Movement/Alt Info, the pro-Russian party leaders decided to participate in the parliamentary elections under the name of Georgian Idea. They claim to have submitted signatures from 70,000 supporters to the CEC.
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One of the leaders of Alt Info, Zurab Makharadze, has published a letter to the CEC, stating that on April 23, the National Public Registry Agency received a complaint from the Anti-Corruption Bureau. The complaint pertains to an investigation into the compliance of the registered data of the citizens' political union - Georgian Idea - with the legislation. The CEC explains that it is suspending the election registration procedures until the issue is finally resolved.
"CEC told us that it will not count the 70 000 signatures because the registry has started the process of cancelling "Georgian Idea". We will do our best to ensure that people have a choice in addition to "Nazi" and "Kotsi", but the people must decide whether they want such a choice or not. If you want the right, you have to do something for it," says Zurab Makharadze, one of the leaders of Alt Info.
Another leader of the pro-Russian force, Shota Martinenko, stated that no complaint related to the Georgian Idea is recorded in the public registry database.
"If a complaint is filed, the law obliges the registry to immediately reflect it in the database. This complaint, of unclear content, is simply a non-existent farce, which the officials of Georgian Dream invented in the name of blocking the new party Alt Info once again. They are just blocking us. In fact, the Dream has crossed all limits, bypassing the means available in the law; it is going through a process reminiscent of North Korea," said Martinenko.
At the congress held three days ago, Giorgi Kardava, who was the chairman of the Conservative Movement/Alt Info, was elected as the chairman of the Georgian Idea party. This change has not yet been reflected in the register of parties, and in the registration extract, Levan Chichua is still recorded as the chairman of Georgian Idea.
The Conservative Movement/Alt Info, which was registered as a political party by the National Public Registry Agency about three years ago, was canceled on April 8 by the decision of the same agency. The registry examined the legality of the party's registration based on the appeal of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and determined that on December 6, 2021, the founding documentation submitted by the party's leadership for registration did not meet the requirements established by law. In particular, the charter was not approved by the Congress.
The leaders of Alt Info stated that Georgian Dream, through the public registry under its control, cancelled their party in gross violation of the law so that "the most powerful and influential party operating on the conservative wing" could not participate in the parliamentary elections. On April 13, Alt Info held a protest rally near the main office of Georgian Dream in Tbilisi. It was there that Zurab Makharadze announced that they gave the party Georgian Idea as a gift. Also, the political association Georgian Idea, distinguished by its pro-Russian, anti-Western, and homophobic messages, was registered in 2014.
