The Council of Europe will hold debates on the situation in Georgia today.
According to information published on the organization’s website, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) monitoring co-rapporteurs for Georgia, Edite Estrela (Portugal, Socialists, Democrats, and Greens Group) and Sabina Cudic (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe), will present a resolution titled:
“Support for Democracy and the Rule of Law in Georgia.”
The draft resolution text notes that the Assembly is deeply concerned that the Georgian authorities have systematically ignored its concerns and recommendations regarding the democratic crisis in Georgia, which are shared by the international community.
“The rapid rollback of democracy has progressed so far that the existence of democracy in Georgia is now in question. The Assembly condemns the Georgian authorities’ increasingly isolationist policies and antagonistic relations with European organizations and their member states. It also condemns the baseless attacks and unfounded, damaging accusations against members of the international community in Georgia, which have multiplied in recent months,” the draft resolution states.
The document also addresses the upcoming local elections in Georgia.
“With regard to the upcoming local elections in Georgia, the Assembly regrets that its call for the immediate creation of an inclusive process to establish a conducive electoral environment for new, genuinely democratic elections has not been fulfilled. This is evident from the decision of the majority of opposition parties not to participate in the upcoming local elections. The Assembly is concerned that these elections will not be monitored by civil society organizations with a strong reputation for election observation. In this regard, it deeply regrets that the Georgian authorities have not invited the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to observe the upcoming elections. The Assembly also regrets that the invitation to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) to observe these elections was deliberately sent so late that their observation became impossible,” reads the draft resolution .
