PACE to observe Georgian parliamentary elections
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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.
A nine-strong team of PACE observers, accompanied by a @Venice_Comm expert, will observe Saturday's parliamentary elections in #Georgia alongside teams from the @oscepa, @natopapress and @osce_odihr. Stand by for their preliminary verdict on Sunday...https://t.co/26KO3RxJe7 pic.twitter.com/deJzqY4CtU
— PACE (@PACE_News) October 28, 2020
Led by Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL), the delegation will meet with representatives of political parties, the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission, as well as representatives of civil society and media, before observing the election day on October 31.
A joint press conference together with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, NATO Parliamentary Assembly and OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is scheduled in Tbilisi on Sunday November 1.
Meanwhile yesterday the United States Mission to OSCE also reiterated the US support for free and fair elections in Georgia.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that the United National Movement opposition party has requested a permit from Tbilisi City hall to hold a large rally on Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi at 12:00 on October 31, on the day when parliamentary elections are scheduled in the country.
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.
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 ruling Georgian Dream party would receive 56% of votes if elections were held today, Imedi TV commissioned poll says. The poll, carried out by US-based Public Opinion Strategies, is based on 1,518 interviews conducted by Gorbi between October 9 and October 20.
‘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 European Union has announced today the deployment of a European diplomatic watch, which will send over 70 teams to visit over 1,000 polling stations in Georgia on the election day on October 31. Travelling in specially EU marked cars and wearing EU vests and hats, the diplomatic watch teams will follow all relevant COVID-19 safety precautions.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jim Risch and Senator Jeanne Shaheen have made a joint statement ahead of the October 31 parliamentary elections in Georgia, noting the importance for all political parties in the country to respect and abide by international standards for a free and fair electoral process.
“I deeply regret the unsubstantiated attacks by certain political representatives in Georgia on the personal integrity of the Chairman of the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that observed elections here”, PACE President Rik Daems has announced.