Authorities Strengthen Security Measures, as Elections Loom

President Eduard Shevardnadze stated at the government session today that the security will be tightened before and during the November 2 parliamentary elections.

Shevardnadze also said the government will convene in a special session on October 8 to discuss a detailed plan of security measures.

“The international community and our foreign partners show great interest in the elections. 600 foreign observers have already been registered to monitor the elections,” Shevardnadze said.

“I think there will be much more observers than the voters during the elections,” the President added jokingly. 

He said that the U.S. is dispatching special group of observes, “including John Shalikashvili [the former chairman of the US Army’s Joint Chiefs of Staff], along with Strobe Talbott [the former deputy secretary of state during the Clinton administration] to monitor elections.”