We support the struggle of the opposition inside the parliament and not the boycott - a special briefing on the issue of Georgia was held at the US State Department.

“What we are encouraging is the opposition to fight this - fight for change within the parliament, don’t boycott again, because they have - their sort of reflex is to take it to the streets and boycott. And we’ve been encouraging them to fight for change within. You’ve been elected by your supporters to go into the parliament and make change.

That’s what happened last summer, when they did these constitutional changes that resulted in a more proportional electoral system. And that electoral system, that new system, actually worked. They have a more diverse parliament than they’ve ever had before with nine parties that represent much more diverse perspectives and views, more women as a result of electoral change. And some of the problems that we saw this election can be – should have been – included in electoral reform that was done during the summer. The opposition was boycotting parliament, so that electoral reform was not as strong and forceful as it might have been had they been part of the process of change within the parliament.

So to see them calling for a boycott again is like watching the same movie again. We’re encouraging them to go into parliament, do electoral change that’s meaningful so that the next elections will be better and we won’t see – they won’t see – this same repeat of the same kinds of violations. And that’s what our – the U.S. and the European Union ambassadors are trying to support: bringing them to the table not for us to find the solution, but for them to find the solution, work together, learn how to work together – because they’re going to have to work together in parliament – and tee up a program, a legislative agenda that includes meaningful electoral change, meaningful reform of the Central Election Commission administration. And then if there are – when there are new elections, you will have a more credible result that everybody can have confidence in and there won’t be these kinds of questions”, - reads the statement.