On December 12, 2007, the Interim President of Georgia, Nino Burjanadze announced the establishment of an Inter-Agency Task Force on Free and Fair Elections. The purpose of the Task Force is to further enhance Government of Georgia measures to ensure that the upcoming Presidential elections, scheduled for January 5, 2007 are carried out freely and fairly in accordance with Georgian law and international standards.
The task force will include senior representatives from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Parliament of Georgia.
The task force will function as a rapid response mechanism linking leading bodies of the Government of Georgia with international and domestic election observation organizations. The group will work to facilitate communication, and in a spirit of cooperation and partnership address any and all issues related to the election campaign.
The task force will convene its first meeting on December 12 and will continue to meet bi-weekly until the January 5 elections.
At this juncture, the Inter-Agency Task Force will not include participation from the Central Election Commission out of respect for their independent role.
Members of the Task Force include: Mr. David Dondua, Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ms. Nino Nakashidze, Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration; and Ms. Ekaterina Dzguladze, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs. Participation by the MFA, Parliament, and law-enforcement bodies will enable the task force to effectively address a wide spectrum of issues and to liaise effectively with a broad range of stakeholders.
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