Georgia, Tbilisi, Aug. 23 / Trend N.Kirtskhalia /
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE / ODIHR) on August 22 officially began its observation mission in Georgia to parliamentary elections to be held on October 1.
Some 15 mission experts are already in Tbilisi and a group of long term observers of 28 people who will be working in different regions of Georgia will join them.
The OSCE / ODIHR mission head Bulgarian Nikolai Vulchanov told reporters that three to four days before the election, short term observers numbering 350 will join the mission which will monitor the Election Day and counting process.
Vulchanov led a similar mission in Georgia's parliamentary elections in 1999 and presidential elections in 2000. In 2007 he was sent to the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan and in 2010 to Latvia as head of the OSCE / ODIHR mission. His group of observers will remain in Georgia until mid-October.
"If the OSCE member states satisfy the request, about 400 observers only from the OSCE / ODIHR will be represented on Election Day," Vulchanov said and added that along with the OSCE / ODIHR on Election Day international observation missions from OSCE, Council of Europe, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament will also monitor the election.
The mission will publish two interim reports in the first half of September and a week before the election. The day after the elections the mission will make a joint statement on preliminary data and findings. The final report will be published in about two months after the results of the election.