Coalition for Change and Strategy Aghmashenebeli launch campaign to restore voting rights for emigrants

Georgia’s opposition parties Coalition for Change and Strategy Aghmashenebeli have launched a joint campaign, the Emigrant’s Vote, aimed at restoring voting rights for Georgian citizens living abroad.

Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia welcomed the cooperation between the two parties and called for broader unity among politicians, experts and the Georgian diaspora.

Gvaramia argued that a large number of Georgia’s most economically active citizens have been excluded from the country’s democratic process and said their electoral rights must be restored.

“Georgia’s most active and productive citizens, who make a tremendous contribution to the country’s economy, have been left outside the Georgian state. We must return these rights to them. I cannot imagine elections without that,” he said.

Gvaramia also questioned the conditions for holding elections, arguing that unresolved issues surrounding voting procedures, election commissions and the opposition’s access to financial and media resources undermine the credibility of the electoral process.