US ambassador: success of elections is up to Georgian gov’t and people
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan spoke about the October 31 parliamentary elections in Georgia three days before the race. Photo: US Embassy press office.
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US ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan says that the success of the October 31 parliamentary elections is up to the Georgian Dream government and the Georgian people.
Speaking with the US acting Public Affairs Officer Christopher Anderson earlier today Degnan said that the Georgian people deserve to vote in a free and fair election.
“ultimately, the success of these elections is up to the Georgian government and the Georgian people. And we hope that Georgians will go out there and vote, and make sure, that their voices are heard at the ballot box.”- Amb Degnan pic.twitter.com/viEOJD8qTo
— U.S. Embassy Tbilisi (@usingeo) October 28, 2020
Degnan said that like the US, Georgia has fought for freedom and the love for freedom is central in the Georgia-US strategic partnership.
Degnan stated that electing leaders in free and fair elections is the true basis for democracy.
The video has been released by the US Embassy to Georgia.
Free and fair election is a process which should be safe, inclusive and credible. There should not be voter intimidation, vote buying, forcing people to photograph their ballot or threatening them to fire if they vote for another party. Free elections means one person - one vote,” Degnan said.
Degnan stated that the US continues to support Georgia to build a strong, more democrafic, independent and a sovereign state.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that the United National Movement opposition party (UNM) has ‘revolutionary headquarters’ along with the official election headquarters which is chaired by former Interior Minister, recently released Vano Merabishvili.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia told journalists earlier today that the election campaign of the ruling Georgia Dream party is ‘very open and transparent’. At the meeting with journalists in the western Georgian town of Poti, PM Gakharia denied allegations that the government had been using administrative resources, threats and resorting to vote-buying.
The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) has given additional time to voters who are in self-isolation due to the coronavirus to request ballot box service for the October 31 parliamentary elections.
Independent majoritarian candidate for Didube-Chugureti district in Tbilisi and former member of High Council of Justice of Georgia Anna Dolidze says that the government ‘is preparing for the mass fabrication’ of the October 31 parliamentary elections with the use of ballot boxes.
A nine-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will travel to Georgia from 29 October to 1 November to observe the conduct of the parliamentary elections.
‘Go vote! Go vote in the peaceful, fair elections!’ ’Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has called on citizens ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections of October 31. Zurabishvili congratulated those who will be going to the polls for the first time. She said they ‘will take part in the development of the state for the first time and thus determine the future of their country’.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that it will take about 100 seats in the 150-member parliament in tomorrow's elections, adding that the United National Movement opposition party has made groups of former law-enforcers to spark tension and stage provocations’ on election day.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan says “It’s very important that as the officials begin to count the ballots, supporters of all political parties respect the work of election officials, accept the official results calmly, and show that these elections meet international standards from start to finish”.