OSCE observers refuse to attend municipal elections in Georgia

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights reported that it will not be able to send an observer mission to Georgia for the local elections, since the invitation from the Georgian authorities was late. The Georgian Central Election Commission announced the presence of observers from 16 international organizations.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel wrote on October 4, the Georgian authorities, who had previously refused to invite observers from the OSCE/ODIHR to the municipal elections, nevertheless sent them an invitation. In June, the country's leadership said that local elections were not within the office's remit.

“The invitation to observe local elections on 4 October, less than a month before election day, does not leave sufficient time to conduct credible and meaningful observation,” the OSCE/ODIHR said in a statement on its website.

Transparent and credible election observation requires thorough preparation and access to key stages of the electoral process in line with our comprehensive methodology. “Unfortunately, the decision by the Georgian authorities to invite us at such a late stage does not allow for meaningful observation and ODIHR will not be able to deploy an election observation mission. “We look forward to continuing our long-standing cooperation with Georgian institutions and civil society to strengthen democracy and human rights,” said ODIHR Director Maria Telalyan.

The statement noted that in its contacts with the Georgian authorities, ODIHR has consistently emphasized the importance of issuing a timely invitation to ensure credible and comprehensive election observation.

In the past, ODIHR received timely invitations from Georgia to observe local elections in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2017 and 2021, allowing the organization to prepare. “As an OSCE participating State, Georgia is committed to holding democratic elections in line with international standards. While ODIHR does not comment on elections it does not observe, the Office will continue to monitor developments in Georgia in all areas covered by its mandate, including democratic governance, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law,” the statement concluded.

The Central Election Commission of Georgia called the OSCE/ODIHR decision “regrettable.” “Observation is necessary for a healthy electoral environment. We welcome all organizations that submit the relevant documentation for registration with the election administration within the legally established deadlines,” the statement quoted CEC press secretary Natia Ioseliani as saying. According to the CEC, 16 international and 9 local observation organizations have been registered. The elections will also include observers from the election commissions of South Africa, Turkey, Jordan, Tunisia, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Maldives, Ethiopia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria.

Recall that in December 2024, the OSCE/ODIHR published a final report on the parliamentary elections in Georgia, which stated that they were held amid serious concerns about the impact of the adopted law on foreign agents on their results, as well as pressure on voters, and that the ruling party had "numerous advantages." However, the report also notes that preparations for the elections were well organized, but frequent violations were committed. At the same time, the ODIHR noted that the organization does not recognize or approve the election results, but only makes recommendations for improving the procedure for their conduct. Irakli Kobakhidze was pleased with the report, which he claims showed that the elections were "free and competitive."

The "Caucasian Knot" collected materials about the parliamentary elections and the protests that followed them on the page "Elections in Georgia-2024".