Democratic elections environment in Georgia”
By Messenger Staff
Thursday, September 22
The delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) visiting Georgia believes there is a stable environment for democratic elections in the country.
The delegation has released an official statement on the PACE webpage, stressing they saw “pluralistic” situation in the country.
“We felt that there was an environment for democratic elections in the country. It saw a pluralistic political and media landscape and a working legal framework,” the statement read.
In order to keep the calm climate, “clearly less tense than it was during past elections”, the delegation called on all political players to act within the frames of law.
“All parties should focus on the real issues and avoid questioning the election framework as a campaign strategy, as this could undermine public trust in the elections themselves,” the PACE delegation stated.
The delegation called on all stakeholders, and in particular on the authorities, to avoid any actions that could increase the tensions in the political environment in the run-up to the elections.
It expressed the hope that all political players “would spare no efforts” to pave the way towards building a genuine culture of education, based on mutual respect between political forces of opposing orientations.
The delegation arrived in Tbilisi at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.
The delegation members met with Georgia’s Prime Minister, Speaker of the Parliament and its first deputy, chairperson of the Central Election Commission, minister of Internal Affairs, head of the National Communications Commission, leaders and representatives of parliamentary and non-parliamentary parties running in the elections, representatives of civil society, media and diplomats based in Tbilisi.
A full-fledged 32-member delegation from PACE will arrive in Georgia prior to the parliamentary elections to observe the vote.
