In anticipation of local elections at the end of the month, IFES organized and sponsored live, televised candidate debates for the post of mayor of Tbilisi, Georgia, together with Georgian Public Broadcasting (GPB) Channel 1. These debates represent a first in Georgian democracy – live debates featuring candidates running for office have never been produced before.
The first debate was held on Saturday, May 8, 2010, with five candidates participating, including the incumbent Tbilisi mayor and representative of the United National Movement, Gigi Ugulava; leader of Alliance for Georgia Irakli Alasania; leader of the Conservative Party Zviad Dzidziguri, nominated by the National Council coalition; Giorgi Chanturia, nominated by the Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM); and Gogi Topadze, leader of the Industry Will Save Georgia Party.
The candidates for the first debate were selected on the basis that they were nominated by “qualified” political parties or movements, meaning those who won at least 4% of the vote in the last parliamentary elections and at least 3% of the vote in the last local elections, as defined in the Georgian election code. The remaining four candidates, which included Nika Ivanishvili of the People’s Democrats Party; Giorgi Lagidze of Future Georgia; David Iokabidze of the Democratic Party of Georgia; and Tamaz Vashadze of the Solidarity Party, participated in the debate held on Sunday, May 9.
All participants answered questions and provided rebuttals on topics including employment, infrastructure development, social problems and the issue of tariffs. Questions were prepared based on the feedback received from numerous media outlets and provided to candidates two hours before the debate. Each candidate was given an equal amount of time to answer questions and offer follow-up remarks, as well as make opening and closing statements. The debates were moderated by Eka Mishveladze of GPB Channel 1. In addition to live television coverage, the debates were broadcast on GPB radio and via the internet to reach the maximum amount of voters.
IFES consultant Dr. Diana Carlin, a University of Kansas professor who previously served for 13 years on the Advisory Board for the U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates, traveled to Tbilisi to oversee the design of the debates.
Dr. Carlin and the IFES staff in Georgia provided training both to the moderator as well as to individual candidates participating in the debates, and advised GPB on design of the studio where the debates took place. The project was part of a voter education initiative IFES is undertaking in advance of municipal elections scheduled for May 30, 2010, which also includes outreach to special needs voters and minority groups and sub-grants to numerous local organizations to carry out voter education activities, including candidate and party debates, across the country. Dr. Carlin also provided guidance to these local NGO debate organizers.
Immediately following the first debates, IFES conducted focus groups and an online voter survey through the Institute of Social Studies and Analysis (ISSA) to gauge the reaction of Tbilisi residents and assess the impact of the debates on voter attitudes and preferences.
The project was conducted as part of IFES’s USAID-funded Civil Society and Elections Assistance project.