ODIHR Director urges Georgian parliament to clear way for preparation of upcoming elections

TBILISI, 18 June 2003 - The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Christian Strohal, today urged political parties in Georgia to bridge remaining differences on amendments to the election law and agree on the composition of the election commissions in charge of administering the parliamentary elections scheduled for 2 November.

"The current dynamic dialogue is a positive sign, but time is running out", said Ambassador Strohal following a two-day visit to Georgia. "We call on the political parties in Parliament to end the deadlock now and agree on the remaining issues so that proper implementation of the law can start in full speed. Further delays could seriously undermine the credibility of the electoral process."

Following a meeting with Georgia's President, Eduard Shevardnadze, the ODIHR Director welcomed the President's strong commitment to democratic elections.

The ODIHR delegation also met representatives of the Government, Parliament, political parties, civil society and the international community to discuss preparations of the upcoming elections and other human rights and democratization issues.

A small team of ODIHR election experts will stay in Georgia to further assess the country's pre-election environment ahead of the deployment of a long-term observation mission for the 2 November vote.

During his visit, Ambassador Strohal also launched the second phase of an ODIHR-funded project enabling the Georgian Ombudsman office to conduct surprise visits to police stations aimed at documenting reported human rights violations. "This project has been so successful that it is being used as a model for other countries", the ODIHR Director said after accompanying one of the "rapid monitoring teams" deployed by the Ombudsman office.