Publication | Report/Paper

OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report - 2008 Parliamentary Elections

Upon invitations from the Speaker of Parliament and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Georgia to observe the 21 May 2008 parliamentary elections, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Georgia on 10 April 2008, consisting of 14 election experts and 28 long-term observers, further supported by the arrival of 360 short-term observers prior to election day. The OSCE/ODIHR EOM assessed compliance of the election process with OSCE commitments, other international standards and domestic legislation. For election-day, the OSCE/ODIHR joined efforts with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, European Parliament and NATO Parliamentary Assembly, forming an International Election Observation Mission (IEOM). The IEOM was comprised of over 550 short-term observers from 48 participating States.

In its Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions, the IEOM concluded that “overall, these elections clearly offered an opportunity for the Georgian people to choose their representatives from amongst a wide array of choices. The authorities and other political stakeholders made efforts to conduct these elections in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments.” However, the IEOM “identified a number of problems which made this implementation uneven and incomplete.”