NDI Delegation: Fair Elections Guarantee Stability

The U.S. pre-election delegation hosted by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), which visited Georgia on October 4-7, issued a statement saying “Georgia’s November 2 parliamentary elections present a critical test for the country’s democratization.”

The delegation included: Gen. John Shalikashvili, former Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff; Strobe Talbott, former Deputy U.S. Secretary of State; Sam Gejdenson, former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; Brooke Shearer, former U.S. Interior Department Senior Advisor; and Patrick Merloe, NDI Senior Associate and Director of Electoral Programs.

“If the elections are fair, transparent and free of violence, the results will be accepted by the Georgian people.  In that case, the country will be able to achieve greater political stability and will more easily integrate into the community of democracies,” the statement reads. 

“If these elections fail to meet Georgia’s domestic legal requirements and its international commitments to hold genuinely democratic elections, the country’s representative institutions will face a crisis of confidence, and Georgia will suffer a serious blow to its international standing.”

The U.S. delegation recommended the Georgian authorities and the political parties to achieve transparency, to respect political rights, to ensure neutrality of state authorities and resources for the elections, to prevent violence and called the citizens for participating in the election process to promote democracy.