Observers name typical violations at elections in Georgia

In the course of the elections recently held in Georgia, the typical violations were the abuse of administrative resources and pressure on observers, the NGO "Georgian Young Lawyers' Association" (GYLA) has stated. A tense situation has developed in the country on the eve of the voting, the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and the US Embassy to Georgia have noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 2, Georgia voted at elections of city mayors and deputies of local assemblies. In Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze, the incumbent Mayor, and Nika Meliya, the candidate from the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party have passed to the second round.

"Unfortunately, once again we've failed to hold elections in a civilized environment and democratic way. A number of violations and very serious errors were observed. In the second round, we'll support the pro-Western oppositional candidates ... We must convincingly defeat the 'Georgian Dream' Party," Grigol Gegeliya, a member of the "Lelo" Party, said on air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Company.

Observers from the GYLA told about election violations, namely, about the control of voters' will; absence of law enforcers' reaction to violations; violations of voting principles and others.

Albert Jonsson, the head of the OSCE's observation mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), has stated that "widespread accusations of vote-buying, abuse, intimidation and pressure raise concerns about the ability of voters to vote 'without fear of retaliation'."

The US Embassy believes that the time has come in Georgia "to create political alliances of political parties intended to resolve the issues of greatest importance to Georgian citizens."