MEP Kaljurand calls on all political parties, candidates to participate in 2nd round of elections, take up MP mandates
Claiming the recent parliamentary elections were falsified, eight opposition parties, which overcame the mandatory 1% threshold for the parliamentary seats, refuse to take up their mandates demanding repeat parliamentary elections be held. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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Marina Kaljurand, Chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the South Caucasus calls on all political parties and candidates to participate in the second round of the November 21 parliamentary elections and take up their mandates ‘in order to honour the democratically expressed will of Georgian citizens’.
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She further welcomed the ongoing dialogue between the ruling party and opposition under the aegis of the European Union and United States Ambassadors ‘with a view to defusing tensions’.
I am deeply convinced that Euro-Atlantic cooperation provides a path to stability and I look forward to further cooperating with the newly elected Parliament of Georgia”, she stated yesterday.
MEP Kaljurand also noted that ‘these elections were competitive, well-administered despite a difficult epidemiological situation and that fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression, were respected overall, notwithstanding some remaining shortcomings that need to be addressed’.
I call on all political parties and candidates to participate in the second round of the elections and take up their mandates in the Parliament in order to honour the democratically expressed will of the???????? citizens. #southcaucasus #ElectionsinGeorgia https://t.co/2bpzRtQgBg pic.twitter.com/HRkiT9geo2
— Marina Kaljurand MEP (@MarinaKaljurand) November 18, 2020
Kaljurand also said that ‘all substantiated appeals and complaints that have been lodged with the election commission must be addressed ‘in a fair, thorough and rigorous manner, in accordance with the law and the highest democratic standards’.
Much to my regret, some opposition parties that are disappointed with the outcome of the first round have announced their intention to boycott the second round of elections and to renounce their seats in the parliament once it is in session, Marina Kaljurand said.
She however added that ‘this deliberate attempt to impede the proper functioning of an institution vital for democracy is unfortunate’.
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Calling recent parliamentary elections were falsified, eight opposition parties, which overcame the mandatory 1% threshold for the parliamentary seats refuse to take up their mandates demanding repeat parliamentary elections be held.