Code of Conduct for upcoming elections
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Wednesday, August 24
Representatives of the election administration from Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) and 14 local observing organisations have signed a Code of Conduct for the October 8 Parliamentary Elections.
The document, signed on August 23, is aimed at supporting the conduct of fair and transparent Parliamentary Elections, respecting the supremacy of the law and implementing basic principles of elections.
Based on the document, the signatories agreed to be guided by Georgian legislation, internationally recognised standards and the mentioned Code of Conduct for the upcoming elections.
“A very significant document has been signed. In order to ensure conduct of elections in fair and free environment, we will be guided by high ethical standards as administrators and observers,” head of the CEC Tamar Zhvania stated.
On June 30, on the initiative of Zhvania, a working group was established to develop the Code of Conduct.
The group was composed of representatives of the CEC and its Training Center, as well as local non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The local NGOs involved in the adoption of the Code were the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Transparency International Georgia (TI), the Center of Development and Democracy (CDD), Public Movement Multinational Georgia (PMMG) and the Coalition for Civil Development and Human Rights Center.
The Code of Conduct is open to those registered local observer organisations willing to sign the document and consent to act in accordance with the Code of Conduct norms.
