U.S. Calls on Georgia for Reforms to Prepare for 2013 Polls

The United States encourages the Georgian authorities, opposition and civil society to cooperate on democratic reforms to prepare “Georgia for the first end-of-term electoral transfer of power in its history, in the 2013 presidential election,” Philip Gordon, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said.

Speaking at a hearing at hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations’ subcommittee for Europe – One Year After the August War, Gordon said that opposition’s street protest rallies from early April to late July reflected “the need for strengthening Georgia’s democracy in a number of areas.”

He listed independence of media, strengthening the rule of law by improving judicial independence, enhancing political pluralism and creating a stronger, more active civil society, enhancing institutional checks and balances and strengthening electoral processes among those areas.

“As we come to the anniversary of the August War, we can take pride in the work that the United States and our international partners have done over the past year to support Georgian independence and territorial integrity. We should maintain that commitment, but also redouble our efforts to help Georgia become a model of democracy and prosperity for the entire region,” Gordon said.

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