OSCE Election Observation Mission about Election Environment

Tamta Tvalavadze

“The electoral legal framework is comprehensive and provides a sound legal basis for the conduct of democratic elections. The media environment is considered less polarized, however, critical analysis and analytical reporting is still lacking,” these evaluations were made in the OSCE Interim Report.

The Interim Report on Presidential Elections cover the period from September 19 to October 11, 2013. The report states that Constitutional amendments passed in 2010 and 2013 considerably reduced the powers of the president in favour of the prime minister and the parliament, and will come into force upon the inauguration of the new president. OSCE states that the campaign atmosphere has been marked by a tense cohabitation between the governing coalition, the Georgian Dream, and the parliamentary opposition party, the United National Movement, and their respective leaders.

The campaign has increased since the end of September. All candidates and parties are focusing their efforts on door-to-door campaign activities. Although the election law was further regulated, the report states: “The CEC operates in a transparent and efficient manner and has met all election deadlines but several OSCE/ODIHR EOM interlocutors expressed concern about the low level of SAO oversight during this election.”

The Interim Report positively evaluates the CEC’s activities with regard to the national minorities. Namely: “For this election, the CEC established a special working group on ethnic minority issues, organized several meetings with national minority representatives and visits to minority regions. The CEC provided grants to support civic integration and increase the participation of national minorities in the election process.”

OSCE EOM spoke about improved election process after 2012 Parliamentary Elections. However, as the report notes, statements containing political oppression over UNM representatives negatively influences the election environment, the report states.

The EOM is headed by Matteo Mecacci and consists of 16 international experts based in Tbilisi and 28 long-term observers deployed throughout the country. Mission members are drawn from 24 OSCE participating states. The OSCE/ODIHR has also requested OSCE participating states to second up to 300 short-term observers to follow voting, counting, and the tabulation of results.