OSCE PA election observers arrive in Tbilisi this week

Leading members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s (OSCE PA) election observation mission to the 28 October presidential election in Georgia are arriving this week in Tbilisi, OSCE PA press office has announced.
 
OSCE PA says that Kristian Vigenin from Bulgaria has been appointed as a special coordinator to lead the short-term OSCE observer mission and will deliver the preliminary post-election statement at a press conference in Tbilisi on 29 October.

The OSCE PA’s observation mission for the election is headed by Margareta Cederfelt from Sweden and includes 50 parliamentarians and staff from 17 OSCE countries.
 

Clearly, this election is important both to Georgians and to the international community, and represents another test for the development of democracy in Georgia,” Vigenin said.

As observers, we will bring a critical eye to this process, assessing it for compliance with the election-related commitments to which all OSCE countries have agreed, and will ensure that our assessment is fair, balanced, and based on the broadest information possible.”

 In total, the OSCE expects to have more than 350 observers active on Election Day throughout Georgia.
 
OSCE PA says that this is the 12th time that they have sent election observation missions to Georgia, including for the presidential election in 2013 and for both rounds of the parliamentary elections in 2016. The OSCE PA’s observation activity in Georgia dates back to 1995.