International observers invited to monitor local elections

A number of international observer organisations have given their consent to observe the municipal elections in Georgia this summer, about a month after Georgian authorities invited them to oversee the election process.

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry invited several organisations to monitor the June 15 elections, including the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI).

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the IRI confirmed they would send observers to Georgia for the June election. The NDI reply was pending, the Ministry said.

Financial issues within the OSCE group meant its observers would probably not participate in the exercise and thanked the Georgian Government for its timely invitation.

If the organisation’s budget problem were to be fixed, OSCE would reconsider their decision, the Ministry said.

The municipal elections will be held in Georgia on June 15, 2014. Seventy one local self-government bodies - Sakrebulos and 2, 088 members of Sakrebulo, 12 city Mayors and 59 heads of the local municipality - Gamgebelis will be elected in the local self-government elections.

The deadline for international observer organisations to apply to the Central Election Commission of Georgia for registration to monitor the local election is June 8. Then, the election administration will decide whether to register an organization or not within two days after an application is filed.