PM: inviting OSCE/ODIHR to monitor local self-government elections reflects Georgia’s commitment to transparency

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Saturday announced that, despite the observation of local self-government elections not being a widespread practice globally, the Georgian Government invited the OSCE/ODIHR mission to monitor the upcoming local self-government elections scheduled for October 4.

“We were waiting for the candidate registration deadline to expire, as it was important to have a complete picture of the overall election process. We saw that two of the radical opposition parties are participating in the elections, meaning the elections will take place in a competitive environment overall. They managed to nominate candidates in more than half of the districts, and this picture was important for us to make a final decision”, the PM said.

Kobakhidze highlighted that with four weeks remaining until the elections, there was sufficient time for the OSCE/ODIHR to deploy its monitoring mission.

“With four weeks remaining until the elections, there is ample time for the OSCE/ODIHR to assemble its mission and observe the local self-government elections. Until now, you have seen that the processes have been proceeding calmly. In reality, preparations and the election campaign for the local self-government elections began about two weeks ago. Accordingly, there was nothing to observe until now, and the election processes are still proceeding quite calmly, except for a few acts by the activists of the United nNational Movement at one of our election headquarters. Otherwise, the election campaign is proceeding entirely calmly”, he continued.

The PM emphasised the decision as a demonstration of his Government’s commitment to a transparent electoral process.

“I would also like to remind you that, in general, observing local self-government elections is not a universally accepted practice. There are such precedents, but it is not a widely adopted practice. Nevertheless, we deemed it necessary to invite the OSCE/ODIHR to monitor these elections”, he concluded.