“When the media does not allow a political subject to place an election advert, it creates a dangerous precedent” – Kakha Bekauri

The Chairman of the Communications Commission, Kakha Bekauri, spoke about the importance of free political advertising in the pre-election period and noted that refusal to place free political advertising on behalf of a political subject by broadcasters creates a dangerous and damaging precedent both for the election environment and the said subject, which puts it in an unequal environment during the pre-election period.

“If a broadcaster refuses to place a free political advert requested and owned by a specific political subject, it deprives the said subject of an important right and puts it in an unequal environment in relation to others before the elections. When the media does not allow a political subject to air its own free election advert, it creates a very dangerous precedent that may encourage other media outlets to act in the same manner and violate the law, which will damage the election environment. Thus, the decision of the Communications Commission as the regulator and monitor of this process will be aimed at ensuring that the law is effectively enforced and that the rights of all political subjects with regards to free political advertising are fairly and lawfully realised,” Mr. Bekauri stated.

According to Kakha Bekauri, the Georgian legislation obliges broadcasters to give their scarce, valuable and monetisable time during the pre-election period to political parties for free, which plays a crucial role in informing the population and helping voters to make informed decisions: “As you know, free political advertising is not allowed in many countries. At first, there were also objections in Georgia to the idea of broadcasters allocating free time to political subjects. However, Georgian legislators decided that free pre-election political advertising has immense value for an election campaign and is extremely important for informing the population and allowing voters to make an informed decision. Therefore, this practice must exist, and we must ensure its proper and non-discriminatory enforcement,” Mr. Bekauri noted.