Levan Machavariani: in order to fully rule out and close the field for internal and external speculation, we sent an invitation to OSCE/ODIHR

“To fully rule out and close the field for speculation, both internal and external, we sent an invitation to OSCE/ODIHR, and we are confident they will arrive,” said Levan Machavariani, first deputy chairman of the Georgian Dream faction, in response to a question about the Georgian authorities’ invitation to the OSCE/ODIHR mission for the October 4 elections.

According to the MP, after attacks began against OSCE/ODIHR, the ruling team had to defend them.

“You remember the final OSCE/ODIHR report on the previous elections, where it was emphasized that the elections were competitive, the CEC administered them at a very high level, and Georgia has an elected government.

Since then, we have had to defend the reputation of OSCE/ODIHR, given the kinds of attacks that were being made. Those Euro-bureaucrats who, before the elections, said they would rely on the OSCE/ODIHR conclusion, later changed their position and began insulting OSCE/ODIHR. At times, they even called it a corrupt organization, and so on.

Later they demanded to know why Georgian Dream was not inviting OSCE/ODIHR to the municipal elections. That is precisely why we did not invite them — so that no one would disregard their conclusion. However, in order to completely rule out and close the field for speculation, both internal and external, we have sent an invitation to OSCE/ODIHR regarding these elections, and we are confident they will come and observe the municipal elections as well,” Machavariani noted.