Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Wednesday slammed Salome Zourabichvili, the President of Georgia, for her move on Tuesday to veto electoral amendments related to the appointment of the country’s Central Election Commission top figures ahead of the October general elections.  

Papuashvili claimed “the attack is not solely on the CEC chairman or the CEC; it is an assault on the parliamentary elections themselves. This is a deliberate effort to undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process”. 

He further emphasized that groundwork was allegedly being laid for the United National Movement opposition party and its affiliates to “contest the election results”, which he claimed was a “direct assault and interference” in the election procedures.

"The UNM has consistently refused to acknowledge the outcomes of parliamentary elections. In 2012, they refused to concede defeat until American senators persuaded Mikheil Saakashvili [the currently imprisoned third President of Georgia] to accept it. In 2016, they again refused to accept defeat, leading to weeks of uncertainty over mandates. In 2020, they repeated the pattern, taking nearly a year to accept the mandates. This is precisely what we anticipate from the party and its affiliates in 2024 - to sow doubt and dispute. We observe the involvement of opposition figures, Zourabichvili, several non-governmental organizations, and even foreign entities in this interference. It is a blatant attack on the integrity of the election process," Papuashvili asserted.

The President has vetoed amendments to the Election Code recently adopted by the Parliament. The President's motivated remarks, spanning 11 pages, have been submitted to the Parliament.

In her remarks, the President addressed the recommendations made to Georgia by OSCE/ODIHR and explained the rationale behind her veto.

"The recent legislative changes further curtail the President of Georgia's role in the appointment process of the CEC chairman and its members. Moreover, the added amendment stipulating that if the Parliament fails twice, first by a 3/5 majority and then by a 1/2 majority, to elect a candidate, the issue will be referred to the President, does not significantly alter the President's involvement and role, given the low likelihood of the Parliament failing to elect a candidate twice with a 1/2 majority," the President's motivated remarks highlighted.

Furthermore, the President urged the Parliament to announce to the CEC the candidate for the position of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Georgia and all elected members of the CEC by May 1, 2024, in accordance with the Organic Law of Georgia and the Election Code of Georgia. 

Additionally, to conduct an open competition for selecting candidates for membership, whose term of office has expired or expires by May 1, 2024, and to establish a competition commission for this purpose.