Chair of the Supreme Election Commission of Ajara A/R is elected in violation of applicable legal procedures
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) issues this statement in reaction to election of the Chair of the Supreme Election Commission of Ajara A/R (the SEC). ISFED believes that the SEC Chair is elected in violation of applicable legal procedures.
On December 30, 2015, an open competition to fill the vacancy of the SEC Chair was announced pursuant to the Law of Ajara A/R on Election of the Supreme Council of Adjara A/R. The Competition Commission subsequently nominated three candidates for the position before the Chair of the Government of Ajara. The latter selected one candidate and nominated him before the Supreme Council of Ajara for approval, within applicable procedures and timeframes.
Because the candidate could not gain sufficient votes during a meeting of the Supreme Council of Ajara on January 29, repeat voting was scheduled during extraordinary session of the Council on February 18. Because the quorum requirement was not met, the repeat voting did not happen. As a result, on February 23, the Chair of the Government of Ajara announced repeat competition to fill the vacancy of the SEC Chair.
Notably, the Law of Ajara A/R on Election of the Supreme Council of Adjara A/R does not expressly define procedures or timeframe for repeat voting for approval of the SEC Chair. Nevertheless, both the Government of Georgia and the Supreme Council relied on para.14 of Article 13 of the Law in the process of recruitment of the SEC Chair but both agencies violated procedures foreseen by the provision.
Based on para.14 of Article 13 of the Law, when a candidate for the position of the SEC Chair does not gain sufficient number of votes, the Supreme Council is obligated to vote again, two more times. If the candidate is still not approved, the Chair of the Government of Ajara should nominate before the Council within three days other two candidates selected in competition. If the candidate is still not approved, repeat competition should be announced within three days.
ISFED believes that both agencies violated requirements of the Article. On the one hand, the Supreme Council failed to fulfill its obligation and ensure repeat voting as prescribed by law; one the other hand, the Chair of the Government of Ajara failed to fulfill the requirement of the law and nominate two other candidates selected following the competition before the Supreme Council.
In addition, when norms are interpreted this way, there is a risk, even when a new competition is announced, that the Supreme Council will circumvent legal procedures and the process of election of the SEC Chair will be brought to a deadlock. Therefore, the parties must act with great responsibility and fully adhere to applicable requirements of the law.
ISFED urges all parties involved in the process to abide by procedural requirements of law and eliminate political interests from the process of staffing the SEC and electing its chair as much as possible, in order not to avoid any threats to credibility and fairness of the electoral management body.