Head of OSCE/ODIHR EOM: ‘election day is important, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg'
OSCE/ODIHR deployed an election observation mission on August 26. Chaired by Ambassador Albert Jonsson, the mission consists of over 300 short and long-term observers based in Tbilisi and regions. Photo: Interpressnews.ge.
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“Election day is important, for sure, but it is just the tip of the iceberg”, said Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) Albert Jonsson earlier today.
Jonsson noted that the OSCE/ODIHR EOM is interested in not only how the election day is going on, but also observing the election process as a whole.
OSCE/ODIHR observers have been observing the election process for several weeks. We are coming to a conclusion and tomorrow there will be a press conference where we will present the preliminary findings and conclusions”, said Albert Jonsson.
Jonsson said that he will visit several polling stations in Tbilisi today.
OSCE/ODIHR deployed an election observation mission on August 26. Chaired by Ambassador Albert Jonsson, the mission consists of over 300 short and long-term observers based in Tbilisi and regions.
Georgia will elect mayors and city council members today.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has met with the Central Election Commisis0onchair and representatives of international election monitoring missions ahead of the October 2 municipal elections. Reportedly, the chair of the delegation of MEPs, Michael Gahler hoped that the upcoming elections would be transparent and peaceful and wished Georgia success on its European path.
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.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) says the political landscape is ‘highly polarized’ in Georgia ahead of the upcoming October 2 local self-government elections. The OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission (EOM) published its interim report on September 17.
The European Parliament as well as the OSCE/ODIHR will send observers for Georgia’s October 2 municipal elections. OSCE/ODIHR has tweeted that both its short and long-term observers will monitor the elections. Twenty-five foreign organisations have been registered so far to observe the elections. The Georgian government says that it wants more international observers to prevent any question marks regarding the election results.
United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan says ‘Georgia needs more political stability and not more polarization’. Degnan, who is visiting the precincts in Marneuli as an election observer, says ‘this is a very important day for Georgia’.
A total of 619,562 voters (17.72 per cent of eligible voters) have cast their ballots in the Georgian municipal elections as of 12 p.m. today. Georgia’s Central Election Commission says that Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti is still the most active constituency where 27.4 per cent of registered voters have cast their vote.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has cast her ballot in today’s municipal elections and said that she voted for depolarisation. "Local elections are a chance for people to choose who will make decisions on some of the issues closest to them. Polarisation has no room in local elections. I voted for depolarisation", she said.
Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Zalkaliani has cast his ballot in today’s municipal elections and said that he voted for the 'European and peaceful future of our country'. Zalkaliani said that the projects that have started in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi really give grounds to say that Tbilisi will be a true European city.
Tbilisi-based non-government organizations, including the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and Transparency International Georgia, who are observing the municipal elections today, have reported on election violations throughout the country.