Georgian president pardons two opposition politicians ahead of municipal elections

The president of Georgia said on Friday he had pardoned two jailed opposition politicians, citing a need to maintain electoral competitiveness ahead of municipal elections next month in the South Caucasus country.

Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, leading figures in the opposition Lelo for Georgia party, were sentenced to eight months in prison in June for refusing to give evidence to lawmakers.

"So that no one has even a pretext to say that the local self-government elections are taking place under limited competitiveness, I made the decision to pardon two convicts – Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze," Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili wrote on Facebook.

"I express the hope that they will continue their political activities in the future by respecting the law."

The presidential pardon reverses a two-year ban on holding public office, paving the way for Khazaradze and Japaridze to run in the municipal election on October 4. A spokesperson for their party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Georgian authorities have moved to clamp down on leading figures of the pro-European Union opposition as street protests continue over a disputed election last October and a subsequent government decision to halt talks on joining the EU.

Khazaradze and Japaridze are among eight politicians serving jail time for declining to testify to a parliamentary commission investigating alleged wrongdoing under jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who led Georgia from 2004 to 2012.

Opposition parties have rejected last year's parliamentary election result and accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of rigging the vote. The government denies that allegation, but two U.S. pollsters said there was evidence of manipulation.

The upcoming municipal vote has further fractured Georgia's deeply divided opposition. 

Nine parties are boycotting the elections, while more than a dozen others have been cleared by election authorities to run candidates, including a political coalition of which Lelo for Georgia is a member.