Home > 1.3.1.1 Media > GEORGIA - Opinion on the Unified Election Code
 
 
 
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Paragraph 41
 

In general, the Election Code, as amended in August 2003, has made improvements with regard to provisions that aim at guaranteeing equal campaign conditions for election contestants. In particular, the rules for public and private TV companies and radio broadcasters, which until then had been few and far between, are now more specific. Furthermore, similar rules for newspapers have been introduced into the Election Code (Art. 73.11-18). As for the principle of equal access for parties and candidates to public and private media, these procedures can be considered as an improvement. In practice, the media offered the electorate a diverse range of political opinions and provided a forum, also for the opposition, during the campaign for the 2003 parliamentary elections. Essentially, the electoral campaign was pluralistic by nature (International Election Observation Mission 2003). However, the misuse of state resources and public employees for campaigning is a still a problem, although it is forbidden by law (see e.g. Art. 73.5, Art. 75.4, Art. 76).