Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has met with a delegation of MEPs ahead of the October 30 self-government election run-offs and spoken of the Georgian government’s determination to hold the second round of elections in a free and fair environment.
Garibashvili thanked MEPs for observing the October 1 local elections, and pledged to ensure peace and transparency during election run-offs tomorrow.
He also said that the government has held ‘democratic elections recognised by international observers’ several times since 2012.
????????greatly values @Europarl_EN interest&support in monitoring the 2nd round of ????????'s #election process. We aim to ensure safe environment for free, transparent & fair #elections. @Europarl_EN’s engagement & bold support in????????democratic progress are essential for ????????'s ???????? & NATO path.
— Irakli Garibashvili (@GharibashviliGe) October 29, 2021
At a meeting with MEPs, Irakli Garibashvili discussed the security environment and challenges in the region and stressed the importance of the European Parliament's support for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Georgian government administration reports.
A total of 1,024 foreign observers from 52 international organisations monitored the self-government elections in Georgia, such as the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the European Parliament (EP).
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili also met with the MEPs, during which pre-election processes and the issue of polarisation of the political environment were discussed.
Insightful meeting today with @Europarl_EN observers ahead of tomorrow’s runoff.
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) October 29, 2021
Once more, reiterated the problem of polarization in Georgia, which is even more felt when we see that the main issues we face aren’t being addressed.
We need unity to accomplish our goals. pic.twitter.com/nPqcwC916y
Zurabishvili stated that many significant issues such as occupation, pandemic, vaccination, regional and Black Sea security issues remain stagnant due to political polarisation in the country. Photo: President of Georgia press office.
In an interview with TV channel Imedi yesterday, Garibashvili also spoke of the upcoming election run-offs and reiterated that the Georgian government aims ‘to hold elections in absolutely calm situation.’
Our task is to be as transparent as possible so that no questions remain unanswered,” Garibashvili stated.
Overall, 2,088,722 voters are eligible to participate in the municipal run-offs nationwide on October 30.
Mayoral election run-offs will be held in 20 of 64 constituencies of Georgia, including the five largest cities: Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Batumi and Poti, as none of the candidates received at least 51% of the vote.