OSCE observers to visit Georgia in September
By Nazrin Gadimova
About 24 long-term and 300 short-term OSCE observers will arrive in Georgia on September 16 to observe upcoming presidential election, Georgia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Maia Panjikidze said on August 16.
According to Panjikidze, after a two-day study of the situation on September 16-19, they will assess the pre-election situation.
"After consultations in the Georgian Foreign Ministry and the Central Election Commission on September 19, OSCE observers will hold their first press conference," Panjikidze said. "We hope it will be the last test of democracy."
She also said that the Foreign Ministry has received a positive response from NATO and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which also will send their observers to Georgia.
In connection with the presidential election the Georgian Foreign Ministry appealed to international organizations and partner countries requesting to send their observers.
Earlier, the Georgian Foreign Ministry announced the list of the international organizations and countries, which were applied to send their observers to Georgia. In particular, in July, invitations were sent to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of GUAM, the BSEC and the Arab League.
The 2013 presidential election in Georgia is scheduled for October. This will be the 6th presidential election after the country's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The last one, held on January 5, 2008, resulted in the election of Mikheil Saakashvili for his second and final presidential term. According to the constitution, Saakashvili cannot run for a third consecutive term.
Upon the inauguration of a new president in 2013, a series of constitutional amendments passed in the parliament of Georgia from 2010 to 2013 will go into effect. The amendments envisage significant reduction of the President's powers in favor of the Prime Minister.