OSCE/ODIHR to send 378 observers to monitor Georgian parliamentary elections
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OSCE/ODIHR will send 350 short-term and 28 long-term observers for Georgia’s October 31 parliamentary elections, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated earlier today.
Due to the pandemic, the NDI and IRI will observe the elections virtually, through ‘close cooperation’ with their local partner organisations.
The Georgian government is ready to charter flights to bring in international observers for the elections, Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze said at the end of August.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has stated in his recent letter that he ‘appreciates everything Georgian government has done to encourage and facilitate safe arrival of international observers.’
- Ruling party MP: int’l observers will be able to come to Georgia for elections, despite travel limitations
- Georgia creates special safety protocol for foreign observers in October elections
The upcoming elections will be held in a different manner - 120 seats in parliament will be distributed based on the votes received in proportional elections, while remaining 30 per the votes received in majoritarian elections.
Previously 77 seats in its 150-member parliament were allocated proportionally, under the party-list system, while the remaining 73 MPs were elected in 73 single-mandate constituencies.
Since the parliament failed last year to ensure the early transition to the fully proportional electoral system starting from 2020, the ruling party and the opposition agreed on a different model for upcoming elections, in the talks mediated by the diplomatic corps.
The country is scheduled to shift to the fully proportional electoral system starting from 2024.
A bill has been registered in parliament per the agreement of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the opposition on March 8.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and the united opposition have reached an agreement on holding the upcoming parliamentary elections this October with 120 seats in the legislative body to be distributed via a proportional vote and the remaining 30 via the majoritarian system.
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has thanked the Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani for his official invitation to observe Georgia’s upcoming parliamentary elections on October 31. Secretary Pompeo said he appreciates ‘everything that the government of Georgia has done to encourage and facilitate the safe arrival of international observers’.
Ruling party MP, former parliament speaker Irakli Kobakhidze says that international observers will be able to monitor the autumn parliamentary elections in Georgia, responding to speculations that the government is ‘deliberately maintaining’ travel restrictions to create obstacles for international observers.
IRI’s international Technical Election Assessment Mission (TEAM) has already arrived in Georgia to assess the October 31 parliamentary elections.
Special police groups will be created in Georgian regions to ensure the October 31 parliamentary elections be held in a free and safe environment, a new decree signed by Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri says.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has decided to limit its missions in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to long-term observation based on ‘a shortfall in the number of short-term observers provided by OSCE states due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel and health restrictions’.
A concluding campaign rally organized by the United Opposition - Power in Unity is being held on Freedom Square in downtown Tbilisi. Two days before the parliamentary elections in Georgia, members and supporters of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party marched from Republic Square to Freedom Square in the center of the capital city of Tbilisi, with Georgian flags and banners that read 'let's say goodbye to Bidzina'.
Georgia is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on Saturday, amid the coronavirus pandemic, with citizens going to the polls to elect the country’s 10th national legislature since independence from the Soviet Union back in 1991. For the first time, the elections will be held per a mixed electoral system, with 120 members of parliament (MP) to be elected via party lists and the remaining 30 running in single-member majoritarian districts.