ISFED chair warns of potential pre-election violence

Nino Dolidze, head of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy NGO, on Friday expressed concerns that encouraging violence will be one of the main problems before the upcoming October elections in Georgia, emphasizing the need for a peaceful campaign and a calm pre-election environment.

Dolidze asserted the population of Georgia was not violent and wanted to hold free and peaceful elections. “It is the responsibility of the authorities and relevant bodies to ensure a peaceful election environment, ” said Dolidze and stressed that the pre-election environment should be calm.

“During [recent] demonstrations, violence against civil society was encouraged. We have also seen damage to offices and houses, and repeated statements against media representatives, followed by specific instances of attacks. Encouraging violence will be one of the main problems before the elections. Therefore, it is very important that this campaign be devoid of violence. We should not hear from government representatives or the opposition any statements encouraging violence”, Dolidze noted.