OSCE Launches Monitoring Mission Ahead of Georgia’s Parliamentary Elections

TBILISI – The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on Tuesday formally launched its observation mission ahead of Georgia’s Parliamentary elections on October 8.

Led by Ambassador Alexander Keltchewsky, the observers will monitor a candidate’s registration process and campaign activities, as well as observe the work of the election administration regarding polling disputes.

“The mission consists of a core team of 12 experts, based in Tbilisi, and 26 long-term observers to be deployed in teams of two across the country. The ODIHR will also request 350 short-term observers to monitor the proceedings on election-day. The experts and observers will be drawn from 18 OSCE countries,” the OSCE website says.

Members of the mission will monitor and be in constant contact with the media, authorities, political parties, civil society and the international community in the lead-up to and during the elections.

Under the constitution, the Georgian Parliament’s 150 members serve four-year terms, with 77 seats set by proportional representation and 73 in single-seat constituencies.

The ruling Georgian Dream coalition dominates the current parliament with 85 seats.

The coalition - founded by Georgia’s eccentric billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili - swept to power following a major prison scandal in 2012 that unseated pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) in the process.

By Tamar Svanidze
Edited by Nicholas Waller