The European Union’s envoy to Georgia, Carl Hartzell said on October 29 that “what happens on Election Day will be important,” adding that “much will depend on the political parties, who should continue working with their activists and supporters to uphold the highest possible ethical standards.”
Stressing that incidents and violations of campaign rules should “get serious follow-up and investigation, even beyond Election Day,” he noted that “transparent and effective investigative remedies are part of the overall election process and will influence the final assessment of these elections.”
Ambassador Hartzell called on parties to “avoid physical confrontations and escalations” and added that “a safe space around the polling stations devoid of intimidation should be the aim.”
In his remarks, the Ambassador also cited the recent ODIHR interim report, noting that the electoral laws “have been improved through the implementation of earlier ODIHR recommendations, even though a number of recommendations unfortunately were left unaddressed.”
The European diplomat also expressed his hope that “more constructive policy debates and an improved culture of consensus-building will become the next logical steps, as this country moves towards fully proportional elections in 2024.”
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