US and EU Ambassadors positive on Georgia’s elections
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, November 2
The United States Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly has stated that he shares the view of the international observation organizations that the first and second rounds of the recent parliamentary elections were mainly well organized and competitive.
He stated the elections expressed the will of the Georgian people.
“I believe the elections once again proved Georgia is a leading country in terms of democratic development,” Kelly said.
The Ambassador stressed that the observing organizations also spoke about certain electoral problems and incidents that needed to be analyzed and timely addressed.
Kelly highlighted it was important for all parliamentary parties to work jointly to achieve the country's key goals, which included the fast development of democracy in Georgia, creating more jobs and the country’s integration into the Euro-Atlantic structures.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Janos Herman also hoped that the parties that succeeded in the elections would use their victory for Georgia’s democracy.
"We carefully reviewed the OSCE statement, according to which the elections were held in a competitive and fair environment. At the same time, the OSCE observers and other organizations reported certain defects,” Herman stated.
The Ambassador stressed that the EU was ready to continue working in order to correct the few electoral failings.
“I would also like to congratulate all the parties which received parliamentary mandates. This is a victory for them, and I expect they will turn it into a victory for democracy,” Herman said.
Herman added that the EU was looking forward to working with the new Parliament and the new government in the process of implementing the Georgia-EU Association Agreement.
