Cicil,Ge -- "A very large number" of international observers are expected to arrive in Georgia to monitor May 30 local elections, Davit Bakradze, the Georgian parliamentary chairman, said on March 18.

Parliament has amended election code setting May 30 as the election day. The President has to issue a decree no later than March 31, which will finally affirm this date.

“I am very glad that OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights [ODIHR] took our request into consideration… At this point, it is expected that ODIHR will send about 400 observers. It is a large number,” he said. “In addition, we have also invited observers from other international organizations, national parliaments and the European Parliament.”
 
Asked whether the ruling party would nominate incumbent Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava as its candidate for the mayoral race, Bakradze responded: "You, I and the society will be very surprised if this candidate is not the incumbent mayor of Tbilisi ."

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