22 Oct, 2021
Hello!
We would like to continue to draw public attention to the activities of local observer organizations affiliated with specific political entities. We would like to remind you that we held a briefing on this issue for the public before the first round, on September 9 and 29, on the basis of which 20 local organizations registered by the CEC were revealed through public sources.
15 of these organizations are affiliated with the United National Movement, 3 - with European Georgia, and 2 - for the party "Georgia". After the mentioned briefings, a number of so-called NGOs said live that the Georgian Dream was discrediting them and was putting pressure on civil society.
One of those who made such statements was Mr. Vasil Urushadze, the head of Platform 20/20. A couple of days ago, the whole society witnessed how Vasil Urushadze was nominated by Nikanor Melia as a member of his team and as a candidate for the leadership of one of the most important services in the Tbilisi City Hall.
This confirmed that Mr. Urushadze and Platform 20/20, which stood out in both 2020 and 2021 by conducting an election-discrediting campaign, are directly linked to the United National Movement.
We have repeatedly publicly requested that local observer organizations identified by us with political entities identify the source of funding, which has not yet been done.
Due to the fact that Mr. Urushadze has been officially named as a member of the Opposition Party, we request that Platform 20/20 publicly present the source of funding for their monitoring of the elections and the ‘Voice Guardian’ project.
Taking into consideration that Platform 20/20 has been linked to the United National Movement, their activities may be seen as illegal donations. Accordingly, we call on local and international organizations to take an interest in this fact.