NATO ex-Sec-Gen Rasmussen: glad Saturday’s elections once again showed Georgians’ commitment to Euro-Atlantic integration
Former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that according to preliminary assessments of international observers the Georgian elections were free and competitive. Photo: NATO.
Tweet 
Share
Former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen has written on his Facebook page in Georgian that Saturday's parliamentary elections in Georgia were ‘competitive and free’ and that the elections once again showed the commitment of the Georgian people to Euro-Atlantic integration.
Rasmussen also said that in order to strengthen confidence in the election results, violations should be ‘properly addressed.’
He stated that no serious interference of outer forces in the Georgian elections were observed.
The Alliance for Democracy foundation has worked with all major political parties to introduce decent, ethical, digital campaign principles that would not have given harmful forces fertile ground for interference. However, this is not enough to be calm. I hope that Georgian political parties will continue to defend democracy from front lines. I will continue to raise my voice in support of Georgia's Euro-Atlantic path,” Rasmussen said.
The US Department of State also stated earlier today that the Georgian elections were mostly free and competitive.
- US Embassy welcomes ‘competitive’ Georgian elections, laments ‘deficiencies’
- MEPs of the EU parliament: 'elections were competitive, freedoms were respected'
- Int'l reactions to Georgian parliamentary elections in tweets
- Lithuanian MFA welcomes ‘important step’ of Georgian elections
However, Georgian opposition parties state that the elections were fabricated and they have plans to take to the street.
Deputy Spokesperson of the US Department of State Cale Brown has tweeted that ‘we share OSCE’s assessments’ that Georgian parliamentary elections ‘competitive and fundamental freedoms were respected.’ Most of the Georgian opposition parties claim that the elections were fabricated and have plans to take to the streets on November 8 and demand repeat elections. The ruling Georgian Dream party says that the opposition has failed to accept the election results in a dignified manner.
The European Georgia opposition party, which has received five mandates in the 150-member parliament, has refused to have its MPs take up their mandates in parliament and participate in the election run-off on November 21 in several majoritarian constituencies.
The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) has counted all votes cast in Saturday’s parliamentary elections. Nine parties have crossed the one per cent threshold to make it into the 150-member parliament per the proportional electoral system (120 seats in the legislative body). In the majoritarian elections the ruling Georgian Dream candidates has won 14 of 30 majoritarian constituences. A run-off will be held in 16 majoritarian constituencies on November 21, where the ruling Georgian Dream candidates won the race in 15 (of 16) constituencies, however, they were unable to receive at least 51% of total votes.
The United States Embassy in Georgia has welcomed the recent "competitive" parliamentary elections in the country and applauded citizens for their turnout against the backdrop of the pandemic, while also pointing out "deficiencies" in the process that require resolution by the authorities.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland has released a statement on the parliamentary elections held in Georgia on October 31, which reads that 'we share the assessments of international organisations' that the elections were competitive and fundamental freedoms, international standards were respected, but the statement also draws attention to 'worrying reports on irregularities and violations'.