While there is less than a month left before this Russian special operation, the invitation of OSCE/ODIHR is another lie and manipulation, – this is how one of the leaders of the United National Movement, Ana Tsitlidze, assessed the statement of OSCE/ODIHR that it will not send a mission to the October 4 local elections.
As Ana Tsitlidze stated, Georgian Dream is trying to create a farce regarding this Russian special operation, as if elections are being held in this country”.
“We remember the statements of Georgian Dream regarding OSCE/ODIHR, when they said that they did not intend to invite any international observers regarding this Russian special operation. After all technical possibilities for the OSCE/ODIHR to conduct a full-fledged observation of this Russian special operation have been expired, the Georgian Dream has formally decided to simply apply to the OSCE/ODIHR, which once again indicates that they are trying to create a farce regarding this Russian special operation, as if some kind of elections are being held in this country. In reality, elections in this country have been canceled and what is being held in October is a Russian special operation,” Tsitlidze said.
According to her, if the Georgian Dream wanted the OSCE/ODIHR to observe the elections, it would have invited the OSCE/ODIHR earlier.
“The OSCE/ODIHR has observed elections in this country many times, including the recent Russian special operation. In fact, the OSCE/ODIHR observation is a very big problem for the Georgian Dream, considering that elections are not being held in this country, but a Russian special operation is being conducted with bribery, intimidation, seizure of ID cards, and so on,” Tsitlidze said.
For information, the OSCE/ODIHR will not send a mission to Georgia for the elections. As the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) stated, inviting observers to Georgia at such a short notice before the elections makes effective observation impossible. In particular, the OSCE/ODIHR statement notes that the Georgian authorities’ invitation of observers to the local elections scheduled for October 4 less than a month before the election day does not leave enough time for reliable and meaningful observation. As the OSCE/ODIHR The director stated the ODIHR will not be able to send an election observation mission to Georgia.
Ana Tsitlidze: When there is less than a month left before the Russian special operation, the invitation of OSCE/ODIHR is another lie and manipulation – Georgian Dream is trying to create a farce, as if some kind of elections are being held
