The Daily Beat: 4 September
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned that “leaders of the radical opposition” are at risk of attacks from the patrons of the collective UNM, to disrupt the electoral environment and the government. Speaking with journalists at the ruling party headquarters, PM Kobakhidze also spoke of a larger plan by the “radical opposition” to undermine the country after the elections, claiming that such actions would be met with the full force of law.
European Union issued a statement deploring “the rushed adoption, in second reading” of the anti-LGBT legislative package titled “On family values and protection of minors,” saying the package “undermines the fundamental rights of Georgian people and risks further stigmatization and discrimination of part of the population.”
In her post on X, the French Ambassador to Georgia, Sheraz Gasri, also reacted to the passing of the anti-LGBT legislation, saying that“ protecting children does not require to infringe on human rights & halt EU accession process.”
Local media sources reported that the European Delegation in Georgia confirmed that the EU has suspended grant opportunities for municipalities under the “Creative Compass” project. Earlier, Giorgi Kharchilava, the Mayor of Tsalenjikha, the only Georgian town run by the opposition mayor, revealed a letter from the head of the program stating that “the opening of another grant opportunity for municipalities in Georgia within the project “Creative Compass Georgia” is currently suspended.”
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) published a Pre-Election Monitoring report for the 2024 Parliamentary Elections, highlighting “intense polarization,” ahead of the October parliamentary elections. The report suggests that the official pre-election campaign started in the context of “intense polarization,” exacerbated by the ruling party’s promise to outlaw the main opposition groups should the Georgian Dream win the constitutional majority, by the adoption of the Foreign Agents Law, and by the intimidation campaign against the government critics.
Head of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, Ruslan Abashidze, announced his resignation without explaining his decision. Abashidze has been in office since 2019. Now the Tbilisi-based Supreme Council of Abkhazia, with the consent of the President of Georgia, is to decide on the next head of Abkhazia’s legitimate government, which has been in exile since the armed conflict in the 1990s.
