| The U.S. Watches Georgia’s Crucial Elections Closely |
| / 7 Oct.'03 / 16:04 Giorgi Sepashvili, Civil Georgia |
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| McCain: These elections are crucial for Georgia. (c) Civil.Ge |
The U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI) dispatched on October 4 delegation of the former U.S. high officials, including John M. Shalikashvili, former Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and Strobe Talbott, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State to evaluate the pre-election situation in the country. On the following day U.S. Senator John McCain arrived in Tbilisi for the very same reason.
Senator McCain and the NDI delegation held separate meetings with the Georgian opposition leaders, President Shevardnadze and other officials.
“The United States does not have a candidate in this [election] race. The United States is committed to support free and fair elections. This is a crucial point in the history of Georgia,” Senator McCain said on October 6.
“I think this is a very important visit for Georgia. It will help to reduce the obstacles which exist in the run up to the election. Visits by Senator McCain and Mr. Strobe Talbott and Gen. Shalikashvili should be viewed as a continuation of the visit by former Secretary of State James Baker,” U.S. Ambassador in Georgia said in the interview to the Rustavi 2 TV channel on October 4.
In early June former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker visited Georgia and delivered to the government and the political parties the guidelines and scorecard, setting up rules for holding free and fair elections. However, little has been implemented from these guidelines.
Despite adoption of the new election code, the Central Election Commission was composed with the neglect of the interests of the most of opposition parties.
Despite Georgian political circles’ commitment to comply with the Baker’s scorecard to refrain from violence, the recent incident in Bolnisi, when dozens were injured as a result of clash between the opposition and the local authorities, was a clear sign that the elections might turn violent.
The opposition still has a concern regarding the inaccurate voter registry list, which as usual becomes one of the main sources of ballot rigging. The Baker’s scorecard reads, “Government will develop transparent compilation of accurate, computerized voter registry lists to be displayed publicly in all polling stations and on the Internet by September 1.” However, the authorities still fail to fulfill this recommendation as well.
“The opposition parties have a serious concerns about the voter list. As they say some 600,000 additional voters are in the list. We have a time to ensure that the list is accurate,” Senator McCain said on October 6, after the meeting with the Burjanadze-Democrats opposition bloc.
Observers say that the U.S. which closely monitors situation in Georgia and spends millions of dollars on preparing for these elections, is dissatisfied with the recent trends in the country.
The Washington’s first clear message for the Georgian government to improve the situation, was the visit of Thomas Adams, Acting Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia at the Department of State, who said after the talks with President Shevardnadze that the United States will cut financial aid for Georgia from 2004, as the reforms in the country have slowed down.
The U.S. ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles has said that the forthcoming parliamentary election and the 2005 presidential election in Georgia will shape the country's relations with the United States and help determine the level of future cooperation between the two states. In an interview with Rustavi 2 TV, Richard Miles said that financial assistance programs would further be suspended if the progress was not achieved.