MEP Kaljurand: if OSCE/ODIHR recognises municipal election results, Georgian political parties should accept them
Kaljurand said that the EU-mediated agreement ‘has not disappeared,’ noting that ‘we expect the fulfilment of its terms and conditions from all political parties.’ Photo: Netgazeti.ge.
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MEP Marina Kaljurand has stated that Georgian political parties should accept the results of the upcoming municipal elections if the OSCE/ODIHR recognises the legitimacy of the race.
In an interview with the Georgian bureau of Voice of America (VOA), Kaljurand also said that the European Parliament expects ‘free, fair and open elections’ to be held in Georgia on October 2.
Georgia has been experiencing a political crisis for a year now. The country needs stability, the country needs clear political leadership, and as I see it, the country needs a clear policy of transatlantic and European integration,” Kaljurand said.
She also touched upon the issue of the political crisis caused by the parliamentary election 2020 and stated that ‘unfortunately, I do not see any signs of improvement in the political situation during this one year.’
European Council President Charles Michel initiated the agreement between the ruling and opposition parties back in April to resolve the political standoff.
However, the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party refused to join it and did so only after the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party’s withdrawal from the agreement in late July.
Kaljurand said that the EU-mediated agreement ‘has not disappeared,’ noting that ‘we expect the fulfilment of its terms and conditions from all political parties.’
MEP Kaljurand also discussed the alleged leaked files on clerics, politicians, journalists and foreign diplomats from the State Security Service (SSS) which surfaced on September 13 and stated that the EU ‘is now awaiting further clarification on who is behind all this.’
The European Union will take appropriate measures in this regard and urges the Georgian government to find the culprits and bring them to justice,” stated Kaljurand.
The Georgian government needs to find out what happened because Georgia is a democracy and the government needs to respond to such a breach of democracy,” she added.
The European Parliament as well as the OSCE/ODIHR will observe October 2 municipal elections in Georgia.
A total of 71 local and 33 international organisations will observe the elections.
Police are looking into the authenticity of allegedly leaked files on clerics and politicians from the State Security Service (SSS) which surfaced on September 13. Georgian media outlets received thousands of files titled 'Georgian State Security Sevice’s compromising materials against Patriarchate’ online from an unidentified sender which contain data of possible illegal surveillance by the state body.
The United National Movement (UNM), the largest opposition party in Georgia, has decided to join the April 2021 EU-mediated agreement after more than four months of refusing to do so.The UNM’s decision comes on the heels of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party’s withdrawal from the agreement at the end of July ‘because the main opposition, the UNM, refused to join the agreement,while other opposition parties were constantly violating it.’
The European Parliament has appointed MEPs Marina Kaljurand and Miriam Lexmann to co-facilitate Georgian parliamentary mediation and dialogue with MEP Viola von Cramon, who will chair the EP’s Jean Monnet Dialogue for Peace and Democracy, the European Parliament Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG) has reported.
MEP Marina Kaljurand has once again urged Georgian opposition MPs to take up their parliamentary mandates in line with the EU-mediated agreement.
Expert teams of the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) are visiting Tbilisi in the run up to the October 2 self-government elections and are calling on ‘all political parties to uphold democratic principles by participating actively and in good faith during the elections and in the post-election period.
Head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia, who is running for Tbilisi mayor in the October 2 municipal elections, says that ‘if almost all international observers say that the elections were held in the full line with the EU and US standards, we will accept the results.’
Eleven days are left until the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia when voters will elect 64 mayors and 2,068 members in 64 city councils. The lead up to the elections has been marked by the ruling party’s withdrawal from the April 19 EU-mediated agreement, an attack on journalists by right-wing activists in July during Tbilisi Pride events, the recent leak of alleged personal files and continued vows of Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili that he will return.
MEP Marina Kaljurand says that Georgians’ refusal to take to the street after the country’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s recent calls was a ‘signal’ for her that the ex-president has lost his power. Kaljurand stated during yesterday’s online conference organised by the Georgian Institute of Politics that Saakashvili violated the law when he returned to Georgia ahead of the October 2 municipal elections and that his return after eight years in political exile allegedly had an influence on the electoral process.