PACE discussing the Report by the Observation Mission on the Parliamentary Elections 2020 in Georgia
The PACE opened the winter sessions with the agenda including the Report by the Observation Mission on the Parliamentary Elections 2020 in Georgia, introduced by the Head of the Mission, Tiny Kox.
The discussion was attended by the Parliamentary Delegation of Georgia. It is noteworthy that it is a final report to be submitted to the international organizations.
As Mr. Kox stated, the elections in Georgia were competitive with the returns not subject to any doubt. He called on the Georgian opposition forces to commence the Parliamentary activity.
“As the international observers presume, the elections were competitive and the fundamental freedom was adhered to. The legislative changes in Georgia adopted in close cooperation with and by the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR and the Council of Europe facilitated in the formation of the legal frame. 48 parties were running for the election and 10 of them were elected. The ruling party did not make a clear line during the campaign with the state and the second problem is that other parties opted to boycott the Parliamentary activity. The co-rapporteurs made the statements and called on the political parties to start the Parliamentary activity. It was reasonable advice. I also would like to join the call to the dialogue”.
The Head of the Parliamentary Delegation to PACE, Kakha Kutchava stated that the ruling party is committed to cooperating with every party to ensure the improvement of the standards of the administration of the elections.
“The municipal elections are scheduled in 2021 in Georgia and our political party is committed to cooperating with every party concerned to ensure the consideration of the recommendations, introduce changes to the legislation and improve the administration of the elections”, - he noted.
He thanked the observers for arriving in Georgia to observe the electrons despite the global pandemic and stated that the Georgian Government truly strived to ensure the compliance of the elections with the international healthcare standards and recommendations.
He noted that despite the mostly positive assessments, the election process detected the gaps. He affirmed the commitment to respond to these gaps and underlined the importance of the engagement of the international partners.
“We hail the mostly positive assessments made by the international society clearly underlining that “Parliamentary Elections of October 31 were competitive and the fundamental freedoms were adhered to”.
Despite this, a series of gaps have been still detected. We appreciate the report by Mr. Kox and affirm our commitment to adequately respond to the gaps identified by his mission, including the financing of the electoral campaign, which is the subject of interest of PACE and international monitors after the Presidential Elections 2018. Engagement of our international partners in this process is very important and we expect certain recommendations”.
The opposition parties shall as well participate, he noted: “Our international partners keep calling on the Georgian opposition to start the Parliamentary activity and we hope the opposition will not reject their mandates granted to them by 800,000 electors and will move the democratic process from the streets to the Parliament as there is no evidence or the basis to put the election returns under doubt. Minor confusion was entailed from the simultaneous count of votes, which served as the main argument for the opposition, though in 1.5 months the observation mission recognized the PVT-related gaps”, - he added and responded to the statements by some speakers and underlined that unfortunately, we often deal with disinformation: “I would like to assure you that unfortunately, we often become the victims of disinformation in the XXI century. None of the candidates have been detained, especially two weeks earlier. As to the statement by the local NGOs that these were the worst elections, let me note that in 1.5 months they made the official statement about their mistake regarding the simultaneous count”.
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The key directions of cooperation between Georgia and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the agenda of Georgia’s ongoing and implemented democratic reforms were the main topics discussed at today’s meeting between Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Co-Rapporteurs for the Monitoring Committee of PACE.
In the meeting held at the Government Administration, special emphasis was placed on the constructive work of the PACE Monitoring Committee’s Co-Rapporteurs for the monitoring of Georgia. The Head of Government thanked the Parliamentary Assembly’s delegation for productive cooperation.The conversation also touched on the security environment and challenges in the region and worldwide.The topics discussed included the situation in Georgia’s occupied territories. The role of support from the Council of Europe for peaceful conflict resolution was underlined. Irakli Garibashvili thanked PACE for firmly supporting Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.The meeting was attended by Co-Rapporteurs for the PACE Monitoring Committee Claude Kern and Edite Estrela, also by Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia Natalia Voutova, Georgia’s Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili, and Head of the Government Administration Revaz Javelidze. -
At the plenary session, MPs heard the Activity Report for 2022 of the Parliamentary Delegation to PACE, introduced by the Head of the Delegation, Irakli Chikovani.
“One of the acute issues for the PACE and for us was the devastation in Ukraine entailed by the Russian aggression and the decision made on the exclusion of Russia from the Coe and the preparation for a new Summit that is scheduled in May 2023 and that shall be dedicated to the planning of the further steps of the organization”, - he stated.
According to him, the Georgian Delegation was one of the main Delegations that approved the exclusion of Russia at the emergency session convened by the CoE. As noted, sundry resolutions have been adopted in 2022 related to the situation in Ukraine, where the Georgian Delegation in full composition, including the Majority and the Opposition MPs, unanimously approved the documents except one resolution providing the record about the third President of Georgia.
“This Resolution was connected neither to Georgia nor the situation in Georgia or the democratic reforms; it was an attempt, which by the way was quite successfully conducted by the EPP members and the rapporteur of the Resolution”, - he noted and added that the Resolution on Georgia initiated by the Monitoring Committee and adopted by the PACE reflects the immense progress achieved by Georgia in the democracy, rule of law and human rights protection directions.
“This progress is clearly underlined and which is unambiguously confirmed by the CoE as a whole, though it also provides the challenges in Georgia being addressed by the Government”, - the reporter ended his speech.
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Tbilisi, February 23, 2023 – representatives of the expert community of Georgia got acquainted with the new system of elections of Deputies to Mazhilis of Parliament and Maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Georgia Malik Murzalin told the political scientists, researchers of leading analytical centers of Georgia, as well as journalists about modernization and transformation, political changes and economic reforms taking place in our country.
The practical implementation of the constitutional reform, supported by the citizens at the national referendum, was presented to the attention of the audience. “According to its results our country passed to new, more fair and competitive rules of formation of the legislative power”, – said the Kazakh diplomat.
Ambassador M. Murzalin informed the Georgian side in detail about the main innovations of the upcoming parliamentary elections, noting that they are a logical continuation of the political reforms initiated by the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
In turn, the participants in the discussion expressed keen interest in the bold decisions of the head of state of Kazakhstan on further political and economic modernization of the country.
According to Victor Kipiani, chairman of the analytical organization “Geocase”, the events in Kazakhstan are considered in the context of the development of the Caspian-Black Sea region as a whole. In this regard, the positive changes taking place in Kazakhstan are important for all interested parties.
The expert of the Georgian analytical center “GSAC” Gela Vasadze noted the timeliness and importance of the principle of the “Hearing State”, the focus of innovations on the development of regions and their independence. He drew attention to the important role of Kazakhstan in geopolitics, which could become a key link for the “East-West” axis.
According to the observation of professor Vakhtang Maisaia of the Caucasus International University, the level of political culture in Kazakhstan has significantly increased. The state and society have come to a political consensus. “The new geopolitical, or rather geo-economic reality, strengthens Kazakhstan’s role in the Caucasus-Caspian region. Kazakhstan is becoming a democratic hub, a regional hegemon in the dissemination of democratic values,” said the expert.
At the end of the discussion, the Georgian experts wished success to Kazakhstan, expressing confidence that the fundamental reboot of the state system will bring its tangible benefits to the population in the near future, and that economic reforms will complement the Kazakh-Georgian relations with new aspects.
Embassy of Republic of Kazakhstan in Georgia
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“Last year, Kigali, Rwanda hosted the IPU on October 11-16; the Georgian Parliamentary Delegation attending the event was represented in the full composition of the Majority and Opposition MPs”, - the Speaker, Shalva Papuashvili stated at the plenary session when introducing the Annual Report of the Parliamentary Delegation to IPU.
As Speaker Papuashvili noted, the Assembly was attended by up to 125 countries and about 600 MPs. The attendees deliberated on the threats posed to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and the non-recognition policy.
“The Assembly was attended by up to 125 countries and about 600 MPs, including 40 Speakers. We had an opportunity to meet with the Parliamentary Delegations of 19 countries from 4 continents; we as well held meetings with 14 Speakers, including the Parliamentary Delegations from Korea, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire, Australia, Rwanda, Malawi, Fiji, Seychelles, Tanzania, Guyana, Serbia, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, Chile, India, Jordan, and Great Britan. We also held a meeting with the Parliamentary Delegation of Ukraine headed by the Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. At the meetings, we deliberated on the threats to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia, as well as the non-recognition policy. It’s crucial to take advantage of the attendance at such assemblies to establish direct contacts with our colleagues, with which we may not share close geographical communication”, - the Speaker stated.
As he noted, the agenda of the Assembly also included the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The attendees adopted the Resolution condemning the illegal invasion of Russia into Ukraine.
