Georgia ‘open to election observers’, PM Kobakhidze

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has claimed the country was “welcoming” international election observers to monitor its October 26 general elections, reaffirming the government’s “commitment to fair, free, and competitive voting”.

Speaking on Wednesday, Kobakhidze said Georgia had been “proactive” in inviting international monitoring bodies, including a long-term mission from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), which was extended as early as February.

He said other organizations, such as the Parliamentary Assembly missions, had also been invited to ensure “comprehensive observation” of the electoral process.

“The more observers there are for such elections, the better for us,” Kobakhidze said, stressing that a “strong international presence would benefit the transparency and legitimacy of the process”.

He also criticized domestic NGOs for allegedly spreading misinformation about previous elections, particularly in relation to the 2020 parliamentary vote. He claimed local groups had “falsified the results of parallel vote tabulation” and manipulated other data, practices he claimed were ongoing.

“In conditions where false information is spread by local NGOs, it is especially important that international observation missions objectively evaluate the elections”, he added.