Opposition Trusts International Election Observers, MP

The opposition trusts international election watchdog groups and will accept the results of January’s presidential polls if they are endorsed by observer organizations, MP Levan Berdzenishvili of the opposition Republican Party said on December 18.

The Republican Party is a member of the nine-party opposition coalition backing Levan Gachechiladze’s presidential candidacy.

“I have previously said that there is trust in the international organizations in Georgia and the opposition also trusts these organizations,” Berdzenishvili said. “We are preparing not for January 6 or January 7, but for January 5 [polling day] and if they are fair elections, confirmed by the Georgian people and the international organizations – we also have observers – we will recognize the election results.”

Berdzenishvili’s comments were made in response to ruling party accusations that the opposition was assuming the January 5 election would be rigged and instead of concentrating on the election itself, were more focused on preparing post-election protests.
 
Berdzenishvili was speaking at a news conference in Paris after a meeting with the monitoring committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The press conference was held jointly with Giga Bokeria, an influential ruling party lawmaker, and PACE monitor Matyas Eorsi.

Bokeria welcomed Berdzenishvili’s readiness to accept fair election results, saying it was “very important.”
 
“I want to stress the importance of what Mr. Berdzenishvili has said. He stated that the opposition, including even, what I think is, its radical element, would recognize the election results if international [election] observer organizations do so,” Bokeria said. “For my part, I would like to note here that Georgia is a sovereign state and for us, including the opposition, the most important thing is what will be acceptable for the Georgian people; but the fact that even the radical opposition deems it important what the international observers have to say is of course very important, too.”

The press conference also saw, as MP Berdzenishvili said, an end to a controversy involving him and Matyas Eorsi.

Berdzenishvili had referred to the PACE monitor as “a Hungarian Jew” on December 7. The remark was seized upon by some Georgian media sources and the ruling party, who accused Berdzenishvili of anti-Semitism. Berdzenishvili, however, strongly denied that his remarks had any anti-Semitic implications. Berdzenishvili said at the news conference that he had personally clarified the issue with Eorsi and the two men had nothing to dispute in this respect. He then shook hands with Eorsi, who was sitting next to him.