Ambassador Degnan says United States has “full confidence” in election watchdog
In her comments over the matter, Degnan stressed the organisation had been “transparent” about the mistake in the calculations as soon as they were able to confirm it. Photo: US Embassy in Tbilisi
Tweet 
Share
Kelly Degnan, the United States Ambassador to Georgia, on Wednesday vowed support for the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian-based election watchdog, by saying it was a “highly respected” and experienced election monitoring organisation.
Degnan was reacting to the statement of Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, who on Tuesday said ISFED had been “actively involved in rigging” the parallel vote tabulation during the 2020 Parliamentary elections in the country.
The United States has full confidence in ISFED. It’s a highly respected and experienced election monitoring organisation. [...] In fact, as soon as ISFED confirmed that there had been a parallel vote tabulation miscalculation, which was determined to be an insignificant statistical measure, ISFED informed the public immediately and released the information fully. That is why we have full confidence in ISFED as a professional election monitoring organisation”, Degnan said.
In her comments over the matter, Degnan stressed the organisation had been “transparent” about the mistake in the calculations as soon as they were able to confirm it.
And that is why it is so important that ISFED and other civil society organisations - that have expertise in election monitoring and conducting elections - are able to participate in Georgia’s electoral reform working groups”, she continued.
“That’s what the European Commission encouraged: an inclusive process that ensured that all stakeholders had a chance to contribute to improving Georgia’s electoral system”, she concluded in her comments.
Kobakhidze on Thursday noted ISFED’s “fake data” had become “one of the main pillars of the domestic radical opposition” in the latter’s questioning of the legitimacy of the elections.
“[T]he statement of the Embassy [in support of the organisation] is shocking for us. ISFED was actively involved in rigging the parallel vote tabulation [in 2020], which was the most serious fact”, the GD official said.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the statement by the United States Embassy that criticised the exclusion of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian-based election watchdog, from Parliamentary work on conditions for obtaining European Union membership candidate status for Georgia was “shocking”.
Sozar Subari, a member of Popular Force, a recently launched public movement composed of the former ruling Georgian Dream party MPs who exited the team in June, on Monday criticised the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian-based election watchdog, by saying “if they want to be revolutionary and follow Lenin’s path, they should name themselves as a revolutionary party”.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights of the Georgian Parliament, on Monday said the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian-based election watchdog, should “distance itself” from “improperly made” demands that “are not suitable for an NGO”.
Popular Force, a newly launched public movement composed of the former ruling Georgian Dream party MPs who exited the team in June, on Monday released a statement saying by standing up for the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian-based election watchdog, the United States Embassy was backing a return to power of the opposition United National Movement party through “revolution” and opening of a “second front” of the ongoing Ukraine war in Georgia.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian-based election watchdog, had “no place” in the Parliamentary working groups discussing reforms for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status for the country.
Popular Force, a newly launched public movement composed of the former ruling Georgian Dream party MPs who exited the team in June, on Friday released a statement saying the United States Embassy “cannot get used” to a sovereign Georgian Government that “does not push the country towards war” amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ruling Georgian Dream party MP Mikheil Sarjveladze on Friday said he believed the “future development of Georgia is intertwined, organically connected with in-depth cooperation with the United States”, in comments to statements by a group of former ruling party MPs who have criticized the US Embassy and Ambassador Kelly Degnan over the recent weeks in allegations of the diplomatic office backing “radical domestic [political] forces”.
Kelly Degnan, the United States ambassador to Georgia, on Tuesday said the country had seen some “important progress” in improving the efficiency in the operation of its judiciary.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the country’s authorities were “ready to inform everyone” about risks of interference in domestic elections “if such threats are observed”, following a warning by the United States for more than 100 states across the world over Russia’s alleged plans to “undermine confidence” in democratic process and fair elections.