US Embassy, EU delegation issue joint statement on post-election political developments in Georgia
The US and EU officials also underscore that they stand ready to contribute as required to achieving these objectives. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The United States Embassy and the European Union delegation to Georgia have released a joint statement today calling on all Georgians who plan to exercise their right to assembly on November 8 ‘to do so peacefully and with respect to COVID-19 precautions’.
They also call on the Georgian authorities to assist in providing such an environment.
With regard to the ongoing electoral process, we encourage political parties to continue addressing allegations of electoral violations by using the legal means within the democratic processes that Georgia has built over the past 20 years”, the joint statement reads.
It also notes that ‘a credible and inclusive legal process for remedying substantiated electoral violations’ is necessary to ensure:
- that the will of the voters is respected
- that public confidence in the electoral process is restored
- that public can accept the election results as legitimate
Statement by the United States Embassy and the Delegation of the European Union to Georgiahttps://t.co/Rn3Z1llNYe
— U.S. Embassy Tbilisi (@usingeo) November 7, 2020
The US and EU officials also underscore that they stand ready to contribute as required to achieving these objectives.
Georgia needs a parliament able to play its role to address the immediate challenges of economic turmoil, pandemic and regional tensions, as well as to enact additional reforms to improve the country’s democratic, legal and electoral processes for the future”, they said.
Therefore, they urge 'all political sides' to urgently take responsibility 'for ensuring such an outcome’.
Opposition plans to hold a rally in front of the parliament of Georgia on November 8 to protest the the results of October 31 parliamentary elections.
Accusing the Central Election Commission (CEC) of vote rigging, they demand the resignation of the CEC chair and holding of repeat elections.
The State Security Service of Georgia has launched an investigation into the conspiracy intended to overthrow the state power. The investigation was launched on October 1 based on ‘operative information’ claiming that ‘certain people were planning to violently overthrow the government’ if the results of October 31 parliamentary elections would not be beneficial for them.
The President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) Attila Mesterhazy has issued a statement on the recent political and electoral developments in Georgia, in which he writes that although fundamental freedoms had been respected during the campaign and on election day, there had been several incidents which affected public confidence in parts of the process. He calls on Georgian authorities to investigate all incidents in a transparent and fair manner.
An opposition motorcade in Tbilisi has taken to the capital’s streets urging the public to attend the opposition rally on November 8 in central Tbilisi and ‘protect their votes.’
Starting November 9, a curfew will go into effect in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Rustavi, Zugdidi, Gori and Poti between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. amid an uptick in coronavirus cases. Vice Prime Minister Maia Tskitishvili announced at a news briefing earlier today that the interagency coordination council has made a decision based on the epidemiological situation in the country and the increased cases of infection.
A total of 2,901 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Georgia over the last 24 hours, including 1,060 cases in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Meanwhile, 2,799 people have recovered from the virus, while 34 others have died.
Georgian police have detained two individuals for offering a bribe to the head of the Isani No. 5 district election commission (DEC) on behalf of a political political party, asking him to step down from his position and claim that the recent parliamentary elections were rigged.
Opposition politicians and their supporters have gathered in front of the parliament of Georgia on Rustaveli Avenue, demanding repeat parliamentary elections be held. Claiming that the Central Election Commission (CEC) has falsified the results in favour of the ruling Georgian Dream party, opposition politicians are calling on the public to ‘protect their vote’.
Police have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators who marched from central Rustaveli Avenue to the building of the Central Election Commission (CEC) after ruling Georgian Dream party leaders rejected opposition demands to dismiss CEC chair Tamar Zhvania and hold repeat elections.
Georgia has reported 2,970 new cases of coronavirus, 2,348 recoveries and 22 deaths in the past 24 hours. 15,713 individuals remain infected with Covid-19 in Georgia as of today. Georgia has had 63,650 cases of coronavirus since February 26, 2020. Since then 47,390 individuals have recovered, while 521 others have died. 4,709 patients are undergoing treatment in hospitals as of today. 656 of the 4,709 patients are in critical condition. 265 of the 656 critical patients are on artificial ventilation.