• On August 12, the Zugdidi Mayor’s Office announced a call [1] for public tenders for the rehabilitation of 67 streets. The work should be completed in 2-3 months. The Zugdidi Mayor’s Office has never announced such a massive scale of work for the rehabilitation of streets before. Interestingly, the works were scheduled so that they were likely to be completed on or close to Election Day.

It is crucial for a healthy and competitive election environment that in the proximity of Election Day no such public programs be launched, as this way the incumbent party/candidate gains, at the taxpayers’ expense, serious advantages vis-à-vis their opponents. Such decisions, therefore, may be assessed as election-motivated budgetary spending.