TBILISI, DFWatch – Observers from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) are now in place in Tbilisi and have started monitoring events leading in preparation for the parliamentary election.

ODIHR will publish its final report two months after the election, which will be held on October 1.

According to a statement published on the organization’s website, the mission is here by invitation from Georgia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Nikolai Vulchanov chairs the mission, which consists of fifteen international experts and 28 long-term observers.

Closer to election day, ODIHR will have an additional 350 short-term observers here to watch the election itself. They will look at how the voting and vote counting goes.

“The mission will assess these elections for compliance with principles for democratic electoral processes, including commitments agreed to by all the OSCE participating States, as well as national legislation. Observers will monitor campaign activities, media coverage, the legislative framework and its implementation, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, as well as the resolution of election disputes.”

Short term observers will arrive on October 1. They will be split into two groups and observe how voting, counting and publishing results proceed in districts all over Georgia.

“The day after the elections, the EOM will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued approximately eight weeks after the end of the observation mission.”

For observation of events on Election Day, the OSCE/ODIHR will join efforts with a delegation of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and other parliamentary partners.