U.S. State Department on Georgian Election

Looking ahead to the parliamentary elections in spring, the United States is ready to work with all parties in Georgia to address problems raised during the January 5 presidential election, the U.S. State Department said in a statement on January 14.

It said that President Bush had phoned Mikheil Saakashvili and congratulated him on his re-election. “We also congratulate the people of Georgia on the conduct of the presidential election, which was the most competitive in Georgia’s history and which was determined by international organizations to be in essence consistent with most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and shared standards for democratic elections, despite significant challenges,” the statement reads.

“Together with other international observers, we looked closely at the problems that were raised, including carefully reviewing the findings of our own observation mission and meeting with colleagues from other international monitoring organizations and members of the opposition. Our conclusion is consistent with the findings of the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and other respected organizations,” it said.

“The Central Election Commission answered specific concerns raised by our own observation team. We support ODIHR’s efforts to catalog any complaints they receive, including in an additional report to be issued this week. We urge the appropriate authorities to respond transparently and expeditiously to all complaints.”