"What is government going to do and how"? How much faithful is the government to pre-election promises or democratic values? The best way to answer this question is to look at State Institution, which, traditionally, captures less attention from elections-to elections. On Elections Day itself, on the contrary, the office of CEC is full of journalists and analysts. In fact, the period from elections to elections is the most important: that is the period when "what's done is done", when the main tendencies are emerging, plans are being carried out and "positions are fixed".
From these positions making attack is much easier; and when, on Elections Day, many people imagine that everything is logical and easily calculated, in fact, it's the result of manipulations done long before the elections day. So, the most important is the process rather than the result. ; And this process is starting long before the electionsitself. It's the famous trick, that you must impose the desired process on your opponents (in that case, on our society hungering for fair elections) and when this process has its logical consequence, you can naively shrug your shoulders saying that everything was easily calculated, predictable, legal, and was fully complied with the rules.
Well, you will win any game if the game rules are determined by yourself. You will appoint referee and arbitration as well!
According to the famous quotation : "Elections are won by the one who counts the votes." This was internalized by all government, started from President Shevardnadze, who, by the way, appointed the current MP, mathematician, member of the Academy, Ivane Kighuradze as a CEC chairman: meaning that he was mathematician and could perfectly make addition-subtraction and would as well perfectly count voices. Of course it was quite ridiculous but for crowdsit was pretty convincing.
Since then, many chairmen have been changed, the party representations have been sorted and reordered, many deals and bargains have beed made and lots of fabrications have occurred (in compliance with the "game rules", of course), but whatever is happening nowadays in CEC is beyond all limits and is unprecedented even for Georgia which has been turned into a such repeatedly raped "election code country" during last 25 years by Georgian politicians and ruling parties.
In recent historical era nongovernmental sector has been added to all them. It should be said that national government used to be an author of this innovation, however the essence mostly has not changed much: simply the part of "well fed" NGOs' has spanned their own "pasture", but after promotion they were not distinguished with less political corruption and/or nepotism
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That is evidenced by the last processes: in accordance with the information of the coalition "Social Initiative", current chairman of CEC, Tamar Jhvania earned 130 727 GEL as a salary from 2014 up to November 2015! In the same period she has received 56 855 GEL as a so-called "additive" on salary. Her business trip expenses reached 47 thousand 810 GEL. Ms. Tamar preaches us from TV screens that "additive is not a premium". Seems like it has a big difference and dealing with anything else than GEL, as though that is not accepted in "Goodwill" or which is not exchanged in Dollar in currency exchange points.
In accordance with the information of the same organization, during this period there has been spent 292 075 GEL from the state budget to "keep" the chairman of CEC. Sadly to say, that the salary of the same Ivane Kighuradze would not have been even thousand times less of this.
So one even says "that's why there were such a good elections at that time."
And how it will be held for now? Finally there is not issue in "salary-additives" only. No one remembers that anyone from professional "non NGO member" CEC-manager to be accused in such issues that is happening for now around Tamar Jhvania, who with the information of nongovernmental organizations, has employed in CEC her daughter - Tsisia Kavelashvili and son Giorgi Kavelashvili, bridesmaid of the daughter- Tamuna Batiashvili, friend of her child - Tatia Zarkua and Natia Jhvania, sister of her son-in-law - Nino Kavrelishvili, wife of brother in law - Leila Sibashvili, relative of her son-in-law - Tariel Natenadze and relative of her husband - Irina Buzaladze.
It seems that it is the "price", all of us have to pay for the fact, that, we got a greatest happiness and finally "professional" will lead the central election commission. However, the argument itself (about "professionalism") was a clear demagogy during the period of United National Movements and nowadays as well: CEC needs first of all honest (!) and skillful manager, otherwise, what about counting votes - no one could do it like academician Ivane Kighuradze. They say, he could multiply seven-digit numbers by heart.
In other words, main thing is the system and non-existence of political corruption! However corruption in our country perceived only as bribery, which is very simplified attitude. Corruption is unveiled in oral and non oral deals: when CEC chairman so clearly dares to take decisions full of nepotism and at the same time there are clear symptoms of lobbying state party interests - this is decay!
No professionalism or "NGO-past" experience will overweight that. CEC has made a big cleaning of elections commissions: hundreds of officials were dismissed at the same time (what kind of strange term do we have in Georgian semantics, - it seems like they have been bond and then they let them go), in return they received "right" candidates with the recommendation of ruling coalition. Nearly in every administrative circle there were made changes in the staff with more reliable and "right minded" officials.
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The most interesting thing is that in this deal there was participating the democratic-Euro-Atlantic party of the ruling coalition that made us to listen, during dozens years, with the demand of honest and transparent elections. Without their "blessing" Tamar Jhvania would not be appointed as CEC chairman. That's why there is nothing to be surprised about in this case. It is even funny to talk about "party staff": who could be more loyal party member other than wife, brother-in-law, daughter, son and sister-in-law? Is not it clear that in Georgia family is the most strong "party" - until its existence, of course; however it has some different reasons as well, that are not connected to election-democratic problematic.
And when the family is becoming a pillar of the state institutions staff, it gets more Sicilian color and sense. Against this background there are more comical lectures about the fact what kind of difference there is between "additive" and "premium".
For this family the client has not big meaning: there used to be "National Movement," there will be "Dream". That's all. However, it is already approved by "professionalism" and many western certified diploma in frames.
As it is occurred "grants-eating NGO members", in spite of their experience and English language, there is not much difference from big staff of previous government, who had big experience of drinking coffee, dealing, writing, dropping in elections boxes, trenching upon, intermediation, "carousels" and provocations in their offices. Accordingly they didn't lack professionalism which is actually in need of any government in Georgia.
Otherwise in many normal (western) countries elections are organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and no one is surprised by that fact.
GHN, Gocha Mirtskhulava