Georgian elections mark progress towards democratic maturity

“With yesterday’s parliamentary elections, Georgia has taken an important step forward in its democratic development. The elections were truly competitive and there was an active election campaign, although there have also been cases of harassment and intimidation that must be taken seriously,” said Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.

“The president deserves recognition for admitting so quickly that his party has lost the elections. Norway has worked closely with the present Georgian government, and we look forward to further developing our ties with Georgia under the new government,” said Mr Eide.

The international election observers, organised under the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and other institutions, published their preliminary report today. The observers consider that the elections marked important progress towards implementation of OSCE and Council of Europe standards for the conduct of democratic elections, although certain key issues remain to be addressed. For example, although freedoms of assembly and expression were largely respected, there have been instances of harassment and intimidation during the election campaign.

The campaign was marked by rivalry between the United National Movement, the current governing party headed by President Mikheil Saakashvili, and the opposition Georgian Dream coalition, headed by business tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili. There was an active electoral campaign throughout the country. Both the ruling party and the opposition have put forward complaints about irregularities and the misuse of administrative or financial resources. Some of these have been upheld, but the opposition feels that the governing party has been favoured.

A large number of domestic and international observers have been deployed. Norway provided two long-term and six short-term observers, all of whom were part of the OSSE/ODIHR mission.

“It has often been said that the most important test of a young democracy is not whether the majority gains power in the first election, but whether the ruling party is willing to step down if it loses the next election. A peaceful changeover after yesterday’s elections will be an important step towards consolidation of Georgia’s democracy. This is a welcome development,” concluded Mr Eide.