The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili introduced an Inter Agency Task Force to the diplomats accredited in Georgia. This group will have to ensure that the upcoming Parliamentary elections are carried out freely and fairly. First of all the Government itself has its interest in holding these elections in democratic way.

"Free and fair parliamentary election is a matter of our national dignity and security and is a fundamental issue for development of Georgia at this stage. We were able to overcome last year's political crisis through Presidential elections. We have created a task force that is composed of Ministers and deputy Ministers. This group has a very specific function - they have to discover, solve and eliminate every single problem, which are connected to the regulatory sphere, together with the diplomatic corps and all international and domestic observers", stated the President of Georgia.

Mikheil Saakashvili focused on all those legislative changes that were adopted by the Georgian Parliament in order to improve the quality of parliamentary elections planned to be held on May 21. He spoke on reducing the percentage of barrier from 7 to 5, about additional lists and about cancellation of voter's registration. The President spoke about the incensement of the members of district's election committees till 13, from where 6 members will be from the opposition. Mikheil Saakashvili stressed on those changes, according to which the procedures of appeal in case of any violation connected to elections will be simplified.

"The Parliamentary majority made decisions unilaterally because of internal disagreements in the opposition. Only because of some political groups shouldn't blame another in cooperation with the government. (I consider this wrong, but this was their decision). We were not able to agree on series of issues. But, in spite of it we adopted a great number of issues. We did this not for the victory of any particular political party, but for the close to ideal, technically refined election process. Me, as the President of Georgia am ready to become a guarantor that the elections will be held without any question marks, in a fair and transparent way. The will of Georgian nation will be reflected in the formation of new Parliament. If anyone will have questions, we are ready to answer those questions", noted Mikheil Saakashvili.

The President of Georgia encouraged the diplomats to send as many observers as they could for the Parliamentary elections on May 21, not to make anyone suspect the objectivity of the elections process.

Inter-Agency Task Force will start their working process tomorrow.

Press Office
of the President of Georgia