TBILISI October 3. The October 2 local elections were technically well administered but marred with allegations of substantial violations such as “vote-buying, and an unlevel playing field, as well as intimidation and pressure, international observers making up an international observation mission under the umbrella of the OSCE/ODIHR said. The mission consisted of the OSCE’s own long term and up to 300 short term observers, as well as a small team from the Council of Europe’s Congress of Region’s as well as a heavy-weight delegation from the European Parliament chaired by a German MEP Michal Gahler.
While phrasing technical administration of the electoral process, the mission chair Albert Jónsson was critical of the “consistent” nature of the allegations of abuse.
“An increasingly aggressive political discourse, and even cases of physical violence was of deep concern. Widespread and consistent claims of violations need to be thoroughly investigated by the authorities,” he said.
“Widespread and consistent allegations and personal testimonies should lead the competent authorities to investigate robustly cases of intimidation aiming at the withdrawal of opposition candidatures, pressure on civil servants, misuse of administrative resources, huge imbalances of financial means, in order not to further strengthen a feeling of impunity. For the post electoral period and beyond we would wish that the government and all parties follow the mature attitude Georgian citizens have shown by going to the polls in a peaceful spirit,” said Michael Gahler, chair of the European Parliament delegation.
According to the report itself, the “widespread and consistent” nature of the allegations overall raised concern “about voters’ ability to cast their vote “free of fear of retribution”, at odds with OSCE commitments and international standards.”
The report also speaks of presence of groups in the immediate vicinity of polling stations was reported “raising concerns about the ability of voters to cast their vote free from pressure.”
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