PACE demands early parliamentary election in Georgia
Illustrative photo: In Georgia, people do not recognize the election results (Getty Images)
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has voted on a resolution addressing the current situation in Georgia. The document calls for an early parliamentary election, RBC-Ukraine's correspondent from Strasbourg reports.
A total of 114 delegates voted in favor of the resolution, 13 opposed it, and 7 abstained.
The resolution highlights numerous problems with democracy observed in Georgia in recent years, including violations during last year’s parliamentary election.
"Georgia’s democratic backsliding is progressing at an unprecedented pace," stated Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, the resolution’s rapporteur from Latvia.
As a result, at the beginning of PACE’s winter session, the credentials of the Georgian delegation, composed entirely of members from the ruling Georgian Dream party, were challenged.
However, the resolution presents a compromise: the Georgian delegation’s credentials have been recognized for the current session with certain restrictions. By the next session in April, Georgia must fulfill several recommendations. These include launching a transparent and democratic electoral process, releasing all political prisoners, returning to a path of European integration, investigating police violence against protesters, and repealing the foreign influence law, among other measures.
A representative of Georgian Dream, Givi Mikanadze, opposed the resolution, the partial restriction of the Georgian delegation’s powers, and the call for an early election, calling the developments "interference in Georgia’s internal affairs and a threat to its sovereignty."
However, during the debates, most PACE delegates strongly criticized the current political situation in Georgia. According to Ukrainian delegate Yevheniia Kravchuk, the real threat to Georgia is Russia, which committed an act of aggression in 2008 and is now trying to turn Georgia into Belarus.
Nevertheless, an amendment proposing stricter measures against the Georgian government, specifically, the outright rejection of the Georgian delegation’s credentials, did not receive enough votes to pass.
Parliamentary election in Georgia
In October last year, Georgia held a parliamentary election. According to official results, the pro-Russian party Georgian Dream won.
However, international observers present at the election reported multiple violations. As a result, the Georgian opposition refused to recognize the election results and demanded a new election.
