Lelo’s Sioridze: PM’s OSCE/ODIHR Mission invitation was expected propaganda ploy

“As was to be expected, Irakli Kobakhidze’s invitation to the OSCE/ODIHR mission turned out to be a propaganda ploy. Had Georgian Dream genuinely wanted to invite the OSCE/ODIHR mission, they wouldn’t have refused to do so back in June,” declared Giorgi Sioridze, a member of the Lelo-Strong Georgia coalition.

According to him, Irakli Kobakhidze and other Georgian Dream spokespersons will once again blame OSCE/ODIHR for what has happened and will busy themselves with promoting anti-Western rhetoric.

“As was to be expected, Irakli Kobakhidze’s invitation to the OSCE/ODIHR mission a few days ago turned out to be a propaganda ploy. We had been speaking about this intensively. The official OSCE/ODIHR statement read that when less than a month remains until the elections, it’s impossible to send a full-scale mission and conduct proper observation, both of the pre-election process and on polling day, and consequently to reach any conclusions. OSCE/ODIHR expresses regret about this. We have seen such things in Belarus as well; we have seen it in other authoritarian regimes,” declared Giorgi Sioridze.

According to him, Irakli Kobakhidze is lying when he claims that observing local government elections is not standard practice for OSCE/ODIHR.

“Starting from 2006, OSCE/ODIHR missions have been fully represented at all local elections held in Georgia. We now await the anticipated response: Irakli Kobakhidze and other Georgian Dream spokespersons will likely once again blame the OSCE/ODIHR for not attending, while focusing their efforts on promoting anti-Western rhetoric. In reality, this was an invitation for the sake of an invitation, to offer their propaganda to the public, as if the West had refused to observe the October 4 elections,” declared Giorgi Sioridze.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights issued a statement saying that the Georgian government’s invitation to observe the local government elections on October 4, less than a month before the vote, leaves insufficient time for credible and meaningful observation.