Tbilisi. 29 March ’04, Inter-Press. - President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, head of the observer’s mission in Georgia Bruce Gorge appeals the Georgian Labor Party to abstain from holding street actions. According to him, the Georgian people had a real change to make a choice on March 28 in the Parliamentary elections and the revealed results are fair. Bruce Gorge said, that he would welcome unification of the opposition parties, because overcoming the 7% barrier for the small opposition parties, like they in Georgia, is rather hard. Bruce Gorge said that the government has to do its utmost for having real opposition forces in the country.
U.S. HAILS STEADY PROGRESS IN CONDUCT OF GEORGIA’S ELECTIONS
Tbilisi. 30 March’04, www.civil.ge - Richard Boucher, the Spokesman of the U.S. Department of State, said on March 29, that the United States welcomes the steady progress that the Georgian Government appears to have made in administering free elections. “We agree with the preliminary conclusions of the OSCE observer mission, which noted that Georgia has made commendable progress in bringing these elections closer to European standards,” Richard Boucher said at a news briefing in Washington. However, he refrained from commenting on the numbers of the parallel vote tabulation until after the Georgia Central Election Commission and the OSCE complete their work. “But generally, I think we can say the Parliamentary elections look to have been generally conducted well. There are allegations of serious irregularities in a couple places and we look to the OSCE for their final report,” Boucher added.
LINKS: "THE FACT THAT POPULATION WAS TIRED OF ELECTIONS WAS EVIDENT AT SOME REGIONS"
Tbilisi. 29 March ’04, Prime-News. - According to international observing organization "London Information Networks", one could notice certain progress in recent parliamentary elections though violations still took place. "The fact that population was tired of elections was evident at some regions", it was remarked at the statement of LINKS. As the head of observer’s mission of LINKS Stiven Nashi declared at the press conference on Monday, violations such as dropping of extra bulletins in polling boxes, usage of "Carousels" were recorded in Ajara. According to him, similar violations took place in Kvemo Kartli and other parts of Georgia.
FRENCH MPS REGARDS GEORGIAN ELECTIONS AS PROGRESSIVE
Tbilisi. 30 March’04, Caucasus Press. - The National Assembly and Senate of France assess the parliamentary elections in Georgia as
>. Member of National Assembly Loic Bouvard and Senator Michel Guerry made the assessment at their meeting with Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze. The French guests told journalists after the closed meeting that the elections are much more progressive as compared to the previous ones that . They welcomed Georgia's aspiration for integration with European structures. […].
CEC CHAIRMAN PROMISES TO SEND FINDINGS OF VIOLATIONS DURING ELECTIONS TO PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
Tbilisi, 30 March’04, Black Sea Press. - The Head of the central Election Commission Zurab Chiaberashvili promised to present all materials relating to violations made during the 28 March parliamentary elections to the Prosecutor's Office. […] “61criminal proceedings have already been instituted against violations during the 2 November 2003 parliamentary and 4 January snaps presidential elections. Part of them had already been investigated”, Chiaberashvili noted.
REVIVAL UNION ALLEGES ELECTION FRAUD
Tbilisi. 30 March ’04, Inter-Press. - According to the reports of the Union of Democratic Revival Tbilisi-based organization 'the March 28 parliamentary elections were the most fraudulent ever held in Georgia'. Representatives of the party Elizbar Javelidze, Anzor Abralava and Head of the union's Tbilisi-based organization Zurab Khidasheli told a news conference on Tuesday that the Union of Democratic Revival garnered 85% of vote i.e. 83,000 voters, while 110,000 people voted for their party throughout Georgia. Javelidze said that President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili acts according to Soros instructions, adding that serious violations haven't been observed during the elections in Adjara. […] Representatives of the Revival Union claim that Saakashvili has already issued instructions on hindering the Union of Democratic Revival to clear the 7% barrier and prevent the party gaining seats in the Parliament. The party is intending to hold peaceful manifestations or appeal the court.
ADJARIAN OPPOSITION SPEAKS OF EARLY ELECTIONS OF HEAD OF ADJARA
Tbilisi. 30 March’04, REZONANSI reports that Prime-Minister Zurab Zhvania assessed the parliamentary elections in Adjara as calm and rather fair. Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze and foreign observers agree with this opinion. The Adjarian opposition, inspired by prelimi-nary returns, speaks about early elections of the Head of Adjara. The opposition says election returns show that local people support Saakashvili and not Abashidze. They say they will hold mass protests and will make Abashidze step down if he refuses to do it on his own will.
ELECTIONS FAILED IN KRTSANISI VILLAGE
Rustavi. 29 March ’04, Inter-Press. - The Gardabani District Election Commission reports that the elections have failed in village Krtsanisi. App 800 voters were registered in the region, however, the majority of the village residents refused to vote, claiming, that the government refuses to give them their lands. The polling station in Krtsanisi was paralyzed all day long. The voting procedure there started at 19:00 and was over at 20:00. Only 15 residents of the village voted in the elections. The Kvemo Kartli regional administration says that the local population tried to blackmail the government by boycotting the elections.
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