“We remain concerned about Georgia’s continuing regress in terms of democracy, political polarization, and reports of pre-election violence,” Democrat Congressman Gregory Meeks and leading Republican member of the committee, Michael McCaul, told the Georgian edition of VoA.
They say that in order for Georgia to meet the democratic standards of NATO, the OSCE and the European Union, all parties must act in accordance with democratic values in this month’s elections.
“In the run-up to this weekend’s municipal elections, we remain concerned about Georgia’s continuing regress in democracy, political polarization, and reports of pre-election violence. In order for Georgia to meet the democratic standards of NATO, the OSCE and the European Union, all parties must act in accordance with democratic values in this month’s elections. We will observe the elections closely. We are waiting for the findings of the OSCE monitoring mission and we remain committed to participatory democracy in Georgia, even beyond the election day,” the congressmen said.
Local self-government elections are underway in Georgia. Voters are electing 64 mayors and 2,068 members of 64 City Councils.
In the October 2 local elections, voters will elect mayors and city councils for a four-year term.
By Ana Dumbadze
Related Story: Local Self-government Elections Ongoing in Georgia
