EU cautiously endorses Georgia’s election results

The EU has congratulated the ‘peaceful conduct’ of the presidential elections in Georgia, but refrained from any further comment until the final results are known. The incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili is emerging as the winner of Saturday’s elections with most of the votes having been counted.

The Slovenian EU Presidency said in a statement on 7 January that “significant challenges were revealed which need to be addressed urgently”. In particular, the presidency urged Georgia to improve the “independence of state institutions in a political campaign environment and strengthen the freedom and pluralism of the media, as well as the independence of the judiciary”.

Election observers had certified that the elections on 5 January were in essence consistent with most international democratic standards. However, members of the central Election Commission were criticised for acting in a partisan manner. Another criticism was that the campaign was overshadowed by widespread intimidation and pressure.

With most of the votes counted and 3,070 out of 3,512 precincts currently having reported, according to the Central Election Commission, the incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili is emerging as the winner with 52.1% of the vote.

However, the results contrast sharply with the 96% of votes that he won when he first came to power in 2004, in a movement that was dubbed the “rose revolution”. Saakashvili has come under international criticism for a police crackdown on opposition protests and the imposition of a state of emergency in November 2007.

His main contestant, Levan Gachechiladze, received 24.98% of the vote. Members of the opposition had contested the preliminary results, with tens of thousands taking to the streets in protest on 6 January, accusing the government of election fraud.

EU foreign policy representative Javier Solana urged the vote count to be concluded “as soon as possible” and underlined that “all allegations of irregularities should be properly investigated”.

Georgia, which participates in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), also faces parliamentary elections this spring.

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