Int’l Observers to Opposition: “Respect the Decision of Your Voters”

Preliminary results of Saturday’s vote demonstrated a victory for the ruling Georgian Dream party, which took 48.15% proportional votes and 14 majoritarian seats out of 30, with the second round of elections to be held for the remaining 16 mandates. For the first time in over 20 years, 9 political parties passed the 1% threshold and gained seats in the Georgian Parliament.

UNM came in with just 27.14%, while the rest of the opposition parties were unable to gain even 5% of proportional votes. The preliminary results of the vote caused outrage among the radical opposition, which attacked the Central Election Commission (CEC) and rushed the political process out into the street again.

The opposition's actions were evaluated as “not the best signal of mature democracy” by the Dutch Senator and the Head of the PACE election observation mission, Tiny Kox, who urged opposition parties to first see the election results, overlook them, then complain, if needed, and later come to conclusions.

"Challenging them [the results] on a same day as the elections took place is not a sign of a mature democrac, and calling for rallies on the day of the elections and after the elections is, in my humble opinion, often not the best sign that you respect the decision of your voters, which came in larger proportion than four years ago," said Kox.

On the day of the election, before the vote officially ended, the US Ambassador also made a statement, saying: “I hope that every party will respect the official results [...] It’s very important that as the officials begin to count the ballots, supporters of all political parties respect the work of election officials, accept the official results calmly, and show that this election meets international standards from start to finish”.

"However, the radical opposition chose to detach from a democratic process and started to mobilize all its resources to discredit the legitimacy of the elections, and to feed a revolutionary spirit among its supporters. Instead of perceiving the elections as a reset of the political environment and a way to decrease polarization, they deliberately drew the frontlines and sow in civil confrontation," the ruling party said, adding that that the conclusions of international observers provide a positive assessment of the election process. “The 31 October parliamentary elections were competitive and, overall, fundamental freedoms were respected,” reads the joint statement of the OSCE, ODIHR, PACE and NATO PA international elections observation missions, published yesterday.

"Both the Georgian people and the international community saw it as crystal clear that the Georgian Dream upheld the positive record of previous elections and for a third time in a row conducted yet another free, fair, and transparent elections. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, recent elections witnessed one of the highest numbers in voter turnout, also complimenting the democratic sustainability of Georgia.

"Up to 2 million voters conveyed their political preference in mostly calm atmosphere, both during Election Day and in the pre-election period, without much political upheavals, emotions and performances.

"The Georgian government managed to successfully prevent the Russian intervention in the elections and its negative influence over the electoral processes. The 2020 parliamentary elections were the first elections held after the sweeping electoral reform which transformed the country into an essentially proportional election system and substantially increased women representation in the Parliament," the Georgian Dream stated.