Georgian President appoints new election commission head from OSCE-Council of Europe list

TBILISI, 1 September 2003 - Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze today appointed Mrs. Nana Devdariani as the new Chairperson of the Central Election Commission, out of the three candidates proposed by an advisory commission of the OSCE and the Council of Europe.

Mrs. Devdariani is currently the Public Defender of Georgia.

Over a six-day period, the Ad Hoc Advisory Commission, consisting of Ambassador Liviu Bota, representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, and Mr. Plamen Nikolov, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, held extensive consultations with political parties, civil organizations, other stakeholders, as well as international partners in Georgia on a list of 30 proposed candidates.

From these, the Advisory Commission presented a short-list of three individuals to the President.

The mission of the Advisory Commission was based on an agreement between the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Georgian President, who, in accordance with Article 128 (3) of the Unified Election Code of Georgia, would appoint one candidate to the position of Chairperson of the Central Election Commission from a list presented by the Advisory Commission.

A copy of the letter sent to the President of Georgia by the Ad Hoc Advisory Commission is attached.