NDI to observe Georgia’s Parliamentary Elections
By Mariam Chanishvili
Wednesday, October 5
The United States (US) National Democratic Institute (NDI), a nonprofit organization supporting democratic institutions and practices worldwide, has announced that its international mission will observe the October 8 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia.
The NDI stated on October 4 that the international delegation will arrive in Georgia in the next few days and would be composed of politicians, civil sector leaders, election experts and regional specialists.
The delegation will be headed by:
Ted Kaufman - former US senator from Delaware
Sam Gejdenson - NDI board member and a former US representative from Connecticut
Janusz Onyskiewicz - Ex-Defence Minister of Poland and former Vice-President of the European Parliament
Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck - Belgian Minister of State and former member of the European Parliament
Laura Jewett – the NDI’s Regional Director for Eurasia, and
Laura Thornton - Senior Director of the NDI office in Tbilisi.
The delegation will count on the work of an NDI pre-election assessment mission that visited the country in June, as well as the findings of long-term experts who have been on the ground since August, NDI Georgia said.
“The delegation’s purpose is to demonstrate the international community’s continuing support for democratic processes in Georgia. NDI has been working in the country since 1994 to support the development of the parliament, political parties and civil society,” NDI Georgia added.
In Tbilisi, members of the delegation will meet with different political players, government and election officials as well as representatives of civil society, the media and the international community.
After holding briefings in Tbilisi, teams of observers will deploy to locations around the country, where they will meet with local electoral authorities, party and media representatives, and domestic election monitors to assess the electoral environment.
On Election Day, the NDI observers will visit polling stations for the opening, voting, closing and counting processes in their assigned regions.
They will then return to Tbilisi for a briefing and to prepare a preliminary statement, which will be released at a press conference, scheduled for October 9.
