US Senator Risch 'disappointed’ by Georgian municipal elections
Senator Jim Risch has called on the Georgian government to address the issues reported in the first round of elections to prevent them from reoccurring for mayoral run-offs on October 30.
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US Senator Jim Risch says that he is disappointed by the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia.
It is incredibly disappointing and a dramatic departure from the 2012 elections that I observed. The international community will continue to pay close attention to the conduct of the second round of elections for the races that were not yet decided,” said Risch in a recently released statement.
He said that he is ‘troubled by extensive reports’ of intimidation and vote-buying.
#CEC’s chairperson assesses October 2 #Elections.
— CEC of Georgia (@cecgovge) October 3, 2021
The election administration keeps working for holding the second round of elections in line with #high #standards, as well.
More details: https://t.co/4GaSNcqEAF pic.twitter.com/OC9S01xOzb
As the Georgian government organises this second round, it should address the issues highlighted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, particularly the violence seen during the election period, and the uneven playing field for those parties challenging the ruling party. A fair and open election process is the hallmark of robust democracy,” he said.
The Georgian Dream ruling party MP, former parliament speaker of Georgia Archil Talakvadze said that ‘as I believe Mr. Risch is disappointed by the results of the opposition, as taking the electoral environment and legal framework into consideration, the opposition had chances to receive more votes.’
He stated that the municipal elections ‘proved’ that the ruling party winning of the 2020 parliamentary elections,which has been described as ‘fabricated’ by the opposition, was legitimate.
The ruling party received almost 47 per cent of the vote in the proportional part of the municipal elections, while the opposition claimed that the party would have got less than 43 per cent of the vote and the GD would have to accept the holding of snap parliamentary elections per the EU-Georgia April 2021 agreement.
The Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, which observed the recent municipal elections in Georgia between September 29 and October 3, says that the election day on October 2 was ‘overall calm, orderly, transparent and well organised without major shortcomings.’
The EU and US embassies have assessed the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia and stated that the race was generally well administered, but was characterised by ‘hardened polarisation.’ They agreed with the preliminary findings of the OSCE/ODIHR and said that the contestants were able to campaign freely in a competitive environment, and that the election day proceeded in an orderly and transparent manner.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili says that the local elections in Georgia were ‘calm, fair, secure, and competitive’ without significant violations despite the difficult political and polarised electoral environment.
The OSCE/ODIHR mission, which has monitored the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia, says that the elections ‘were generally well-administered but held against the backdrop of a protracted political crisis and characterised by hardened polarisation.’