Roberto Montella, Ignacio Sanchez Amor and Guglielmo Picchi meet with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Tbilisi, 5 Oct. 2016TBILISI, 5 October 2016 – Leading members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s election observation mission to the 8 October parliamentary elections in Georgia arrived today in Tbilisi for final preparations of the observation mission. Ignacio Sanchez Amor (MP, Spain), who has been appointed by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier as Special Co-ordinator to lead the short-term OSCE observer mission, and Guglielmo Picchi (MP, Italy), who serves as Head of the OSCE PA delegation of observers, held several meetings today, and are expected to be joined by dozens of other parliamentarians tomorrow.

Addressing short-term OSCE observers today, Sanchez Amor stressed the importance of the elections and the need for vigorous and impartial observation. “It is clear that this election is not only important in the eyes of Georgians, but also in the eyes of all of the governments that have sent us to be here,” he said. “As observers, we have a great obligation as the eyes and ears – and the voice – of the international community.”

Sanchez Amor and Picchi will tomorrow address observers from the four parliamentary assemblies participating in the international election observation mission – the OSCE PA, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, NATO PA, and the European Parliament.

Picchi echoed Sanchez Amor’s comments. “As observers, and particularly as parliamentarians who have competed in elections ourselves, it is our duty to bring our critical eye to this process, but to also be fair and to base our assessment on the broadest information possible,” he said today.

Picchi and Sanchez Amor conducted a pre-electoral visit to Georgia last month, holding meetings with President Giorgi Margvelashvili, members of the Central Election Commission, representatives from major political parties, observers from the OSCE/ODIHR, civil society representatives, as well as members of the diplomatic community in Tbilisi.

Today they met with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili for discussions on the situation in the country ahead of the elections. They also met with Ambassador Alexandre Keltchewsky (France), who is leading the OSCE/ODIHR long-term observation mission consisting of 12 international experts based in Tbilisi and 26 long-term observers deployed in teams of two around the country.

The OSCE PA has 29 members of parliament from 17 countries participating in this observation mission, which marks the 11th time the PA has observed elections in Georgia since 1995.

For more information, please contact OSCE PA Head of Communications and Press Nat Parry, [email protected], +995 599 1263 00 or +45 60 10 81 77.