Tsereteli was not supported by the Georgian delegation
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, July 6
A member of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, Gigi Tsereteli, has failed to become the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE PA).
Voting took place in Tbilisi on July 5, as Georgia hosted the 25th session of OSCE PA on July 1-5 at the Tbilisi Expo-Georgia area.
Austrian Christine Muttonen defeated Tsereteli in the second round of the race with 86 votes to 73 and became the OSCE PA President for a one year term.
Tsereteli will remain Vice-President of the OSCE-PA in the course of the following two years.
The ruling Georgian Dream coalition lawmakers did not vote for Tsereteli as his candidacy appeared unacceptable for them.
Tsereteli, who is a member of the previous ruling team which ran the country for nine-years until 2012, said the voting revealed “how the Government must not act.”
He expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruling team’s attitude but said he was happy with the high-level conduct of the five-day political event.
Members of the UNM said the ruling team placed “their narrow political vision above the state's interests”.
Parliamentary Speaker of Georgia Davit Usupashvili said he did not vote for Tsereteli as he was 'guided by' OSCE principles, European and World interests.
Usupashvili believed electing a female candidate to the post would be more beneficial for Europe, the world and Georgia.
Ruling party lawmaker Manana Kobakhidze stated Tsereteli cooperated “very well” with all types of governments in Georgia and always acted based on his own and not state interests, which is why she did not vote for him.
Meanwhile, Muttonen said she was happy with the outcomes and thanked Georgia for the high-level hosting of the occasion.
