OSCE/ODIHR confirms monitoring missions arrive 2–3 weeks before elections, despite declining Georgian Gov’t’s request

In response to a query from Imedi TV, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) declined to address questions specifically related to Georgia but confirmed that its election observation missions are usually deployed two to three weeks before election day. This comes despite ODIHR’s refusal to send a mission to Georgia a month ahead of the October 4 local elections.

Imedi TV asked the international organisation how it managed to deploy within the same timeframe to the Czech Republic, where elections are scheduled for October 3. ODIHR replied that it uses different formats of observation, depending on the needs identified during the pre-election assessment mission.

“ODIHR employs different observation formats depending on the needs identified by a pre-election assessment mission. In the case of the Czech Republic, the assessment mission concluded that an Election Assessment Mission would be the most effective format. In line with ODIHR’s comprehensive, impartial and systematic methodology, Election Assessment Missions are deployed two to three weeks before election day”, the organisation said.

The Georgian Government formally invited ODIHR to observe the October 4 elections on September 6, while Prague extended its invitation for the Czech vote on September 2. However, on September 9 it became known that ODIHR had declined to send a mission to Georgia, citing lack of time.

The decision not to send observers to Georgia’s elections has raised questions, particularly since ODIHR has previously deployed missions on shorter notice.

Archil Gorduladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, on Saturday claimed that the OSCE/ODIHR mission faced significant pressure and attacks from the deep state, resulting in their decision not to observe Georgia’s local self-government elections.