PM Gakharia: tomorrow’s elections define Georgia’s future development, I urge people to vote
PM Giorgi Gakharia has urged voters to cast their ballots. Photo: government of Georgia press office.
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A day before the parliamentary elections Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has urged people to make their choice at ballot boxes as the elections will define the country’s development for years to come.
He stated that Georgia is able to show the world how to hold ‘exemplary elections’ despite the pandemic.
Tomorrow is a very important day for the country’s future democratic development. We can show the world once again how to hold exemplary elections despite the pandemic - free, fair, democratic and transparent,” Gakharia stated earlier today.
He said that like the pre-election period, the election day and the post-election period should be calm and democratic.
The pre-election period was absolutely calm, transparent and democratic. It is the responsibility of the government, the opposition and the whole public, the election day tomorrow, as well as the post-election period, to be also calm and democratic, in the full line with the top international standards. Any violation or provocations will be strongly punished, no matter of political possessions,” Gakharia said.
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He stated that the Interior Ministry has been instructed to ensure safety around the country tomorrow, while the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry will be “on the round-clock contact with foreign observers to prevent any obstacles in their activities.”
Gakharia said that voting tomorrow will be ‘absolutely safe’ and people should not be afraid of contracting the virus at polling stations.
I will say once again. The pandemic will be over, we will also cope with the economic crisis. However, the elections which will be held tomorrow will define the country’s fate for years. That is why I urge our citizens to vote,” Gakharia said.
Tomorrow Georgians will elect the country’s 10th national legislature since independence from the Soviet Union back in 1991.
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.
‘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 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.
On election day the European diplomatic watch will assemble no less than 70 teams and visit some 1000 polling stations on election day throughout the country, said EU ambassador Carl Hartzell.
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.
"We must go to the elections so that peace and stability may be uninterrupted", the ruling Georgian Dream party founder and chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili said, addressing the nation a day before the parliamentary elections on October 31.
The ruling Georgian Dream party chairperson Bidzina Ivanishvili has stated that he has voted for the country’s development, stability, peace and Georgia’s European future.
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”.