On Wednesday 29 January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to confirm the credentials of the Georgian delegation - challenged on 27 January because it was made up exclusively of representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream party - but it attached restrictions and recommendations to this validation, which the authorities are asked to comply with between now and the April plenary session.
If this is not the case, the credentials will be suspended, warns the Assembly, which voted 114 in favour, 13 against and 7 abstentions.
Noting “a democratic backsliding that is increasing at an unprecedented rate in Georgia”, Latvia’s Zanda Kalņina-Lukaševica (EPP), who is responsible for the Monitoring Committee’s report, called on the Council of Europe to “respond clearly” by demanding clear assurances of Georgia’s willingness to respect the obligations arising from its membership.
Top of the list of recommendations: the creation of “an electoral environment that is conducive to genuinely democratic new elections announced in the coming months”, an end to police brutality and the release of all political prisoners by April 2025.
In the meantime, the members of the Georgian delegation will not be able to sit on a series of committees, take part in an election observation mission, act as rapporteurs or apply for a chair or vice-chair position.
At the same time, the Assembly will explore ways of strengthening the participation of Georgian extra-parliamentarian opposition and civil society in its actions with regard to the country, including within the framework of the Monitoring Committee.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/fa3 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)