More than 3.4m eligible voters for Georgian elections as PM calls for more observers

There are over 3.4 million voters registered for Georgia’s upcoming legislative elections, authorities said on Monday, while the prime minister is calling for more international observers to monitor the October polls.

Data released by the Central Election Commission (CEC) also includes the number of voters in each of Georgia’s 73 electoral districts.  Under redistricting, there will now be a difference of just 13,000 between the largest and smallest districts, whereas under the previous system the largest district had 150,000 voters, and the smallest just 6,000.  

Lawmakers from the opposition United National Movement have mounted a legal challenge to the redistricting, claiming the new boundaries were redrawn to the detriment of opposition parties, according to Agenda.ge.

Meanwhile in Tbilisi, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili appealed to international organisations to send more people to observe the elections on October 8. In a meeting with the National Democratic Institute, a US-based think tank, he said Georgia was ready to provide a "democratic, free and transparent environment for the Parliamentary Elections,” but needed help.

The electoral commission will release updated figures on the number of voters on October 3, five days before Georgians go to polls.

SOURCE: commonspace.eu and agencies 

PHOTO: Giorgi Kvirikashvili and representatives from the National Democratic Institute. Source: government.ge

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Indian Foreign Minister meets Aliyev in Baku

Indian Foreign Minister meets Aliyev in Baku

On October 23, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India. The Minister first conveyed the greetings of Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the head of state. Recalling the meeting between the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of India in Bishkek, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that he was visiting Azerbaijan on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. President Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude for the greetings and asked the Minister to convey his regards to the President and Prime Minister of India. The head of state fondly recalled his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bishkek and the exchange of views during that meeting. President Ilham Aliyev highly appreciated the visit of India’s Minister of External Affairs to Azerbaijan on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stressing its importance for discussing the current state and prospects of bilateral relations. During the meeting, the sides held an extensive exchange of views on the current state of relations between Azerbaijan and India, highlighting ample opportunities to develop cooperation in areas of mutual interest. The sides noted that Azerbaijan and India, as members of the Global South, share similar positions on a number of issues on the international agenda, including matters of concern to countries of the Global South. In this regard, they discussed prospects for bilateral cooperation in political, trade and economic, high-tech, cultural, humanitarian and other fields. The conversation also touched upon the importance of cooperation within international organizations. The sides emphasized the need to intensify political contacts and organize reciprocal visits at various levels, including exchanges involving economic and business delegations, to further advance bilateral relations.

Popular

Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)