How a Georgian Dream Youth Member "Left" a Movement She Was Never Part Of
Date: 18 November 2024
On October 26, the day of the parliamentary elections, an announcement was made on the Adjara television network’s news program, stating that several members of the Shame Movement organization had left the group. The departing members provided statements explaining their reasons for leaving, claiming they had received instructions to interfere with the election process. As Mariam Mchedlidze stated:
“They had a well-organized plan to disrupt the elections. We were told to support people who backed the opposition and, for those who didn’t, to file numerous complaints against them continuously throughout the day. They would call us frequently to remind us of these tasks. We were also instructed to encourage undecided voters to choose the opposition. Their goal was for the election day to be as chaotic as possible.”
In the same news segment, another former member, Giorgi Paksashvili, shared a similar account:
“I went in with the intent to protect people’s voices objectively, but I found a completely different reality. When I arrived at the polling stations, I was instructed to file as many complaints as possible, disrupting the process. Eventually, I removed my badge and left; I didn’t want to be part of their manipulation.”
On November 3, the Imedi television channel aired a report claiming that “radicals” had attempted to sabotage the elections, issuing directives to precinct and district commission members to disrupt the voting process. Mariam Mchedlidze reiterated similar information on Imedi TV:
“We were instructed to encourage undecided voters to support the opposition. For those who we knew supported Georgian Dream, we were told to file complaints against them for trivial issues, which is completely unacceptable.”
The report presented Mariam Mchedlidze as an observer for the Shame Movement in one of the precincts. It claimed she left the organization on election day after receiving “illegal directives” from a coordinator, who sent instructions via messages throughout the day.
However, in reality, neither Mariam Mchedlidze nor Giorgi Paksashvili were part of the Shame Movement. On November 4, the organization released an official statement clarifying that neither of these individuals had ever been members. According to the statement, Mchedlidze and Paksashvili merely took an online training course created by the movement for election observers.
Furthermore, open-source information reveals that Mariam Mchedlidze, portrayed by the media as a former member of the Shame Movement, is actually affiliated with the ruling party’s youth wing. A social media post shows that she attended the opening of a Georgian Dream supporters’ club on October 4.
Evidently, the information disseminated by the Adjara and Imedi television channels claiming that Mariam Mchedlidze was a former member of the Shame Movement is false and is designed to deliberately mislead the public.