Georgian Parliament official: OSCE/ODIHR’s absence from Georgia’s elections linked to deep state pressure

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 scheduled for October 4.

In his remarks, Gorduladze addressed the OSCE/ODIHR’s statement regarding their non-participation.

“In 2007, at the end of November, when [imprisoned former President] Mikheil Saakashvili resigned, and elections were held early January during the holiday season across Europe and OSCE member states, they managed to come and observe the elections”, Gorduladze said.

He also referenced a recent case where the OSCE/ODIHR agreed to monitor parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic on October 4, following a request sent on September 2.

“Similarly, today, in response to a request sent on September 2 for the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic to be held on October 4, they will observe those elections. This means that one month is completely sufficient for a mission to be dispatched to a country and for observation to take place. But none of this is happening”, he noted.

Gorduladze suggested that external forces were preventing such observation in Georgia.

“This gives us a reasonable assumption that the deep state exerted significant pressure on the OSCE/ODIHR because in 2024 the OSCE/ODIHR reported that elections in our country were conducted in a way that allowed everyone to express their opinions”, he noted.

“This is exactly what the deep state does not want, as their goal is to prevent peaceful elections in our country and instead bring to power, through a coup, agents who will sign off on anything. This is the determining and main reason for the OSCE/ODIHR’s absence”,Gorduladze concluded.