
PACE Sets New Elections, Release of Prisoners as Conditions to Ratify Georgian MP Credentials
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) resolved to delay ratifying the full credentials of the Georgian delegation until stringent conditions are met to set Georgia back on the democratic path. PACE “insists” that the Georgian authorities announce new elections and release “all political prisoners” by the Assembly’s next session. In the meantime, the Georgian delegation is deprived of several rights in PACE. The resolution was adopted today, January 29, with 114 votes in favor, 13 against, and seven abstentions.
The opposition hailed the decision. Tina Bokuchava, the Chair of the Unity-UNM coalition, speaking to us shortly after the resolution was passed, said that “the issue of the ratification of the credentials itself, which the propaganda will still try to celebrate to deceive the people, is only a lever and an instrument to achieve the goal of overcoming the political crisis,” which he said is to be achieved with new elections and the release of political prisoners.
Civil society representatives also welcomed the adoption of the resolution. “This decision is important because now the conditions for the Georgian Dream are practically in place,” Nino Dolidze, the director of ISFED, the election monitor, told us in a comment, adding that “these conditions coincide with the demands of Georgian society: new parliamentary elections, the release of political prisoners by April.”
PACE will reconsider the credentials and rights of the Georgian delegation at its next session in April, based on the progress made in meeting the conditions.
What are the conditions?
“Developments since the 26 October 2024 parliamentary elections, including violations of the freedom of assembly and expression and the crackdown on the opposition and civil society, are in contradiction to Georgia’s membership obligations and accession commitments to the Council of Europe,” the resolution reads. The credentials of the Georgian delegation were challenged on “substantive grounds” on the opening day of the current PACE session. But “as a signal of its own openness to maintaining dialogue,” PACE opted to ratify the credentials, albeit conditionally.
PACE prescribes that the Georgian authorities “urgently address the deficiencies and shortcomings noted during the recent parliamentary elections” and “create an electoral environment that is conducive to genuinely democratic new parliamentary elections to be announced during the coming months.” The word “parliamentary” was added to this sentence by oral amendment during the plenary “for the sake of clarity,” said Eerik-Niiles Kross (Estonia, ALDE), who tabled the amendment.
It also insists that Georgia take “immediate and effective steps” to resume the EU integration process. On November 28, Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the country would suspend its EU accession efforts until 2028.
PACE also insists on an “immediate end to police brutality and human rights abuses” and effective investigation of these cases, as well as an end to the “misuse of legal proceedings as a means of deterring or retaliation against protesters.”
The PACE resolution also insists that the Georgian authorities “release all political prisoners” before its next session in April. Over 50 people have been arrested on administrative and criminal charges since the protests erupted after GD’s EU turn. Many of them are still in pre-trial detention and face prison sentences.
The conditions for the Georgian authorities also include repealing controversial legislation, including the Foreign Agents Law. The resolution states that Georgia should strengthen its cooperation with the Council of Europe and continue to fully participate in the Assembly’s monitoring procedure.
Suspension of certain rights for Georgian delegation
“At the same time, as a clear sign of its condemnation of the police brutality and other human rights abuses, which so far have not been addressed by the authorities,” the Assembly decided to suspend several rights of the Georgian delegation.
The Georgian delegation members will not be full members of several PACE committees, including the election monitoring committees. They will not have the right to be appointed as rapporteurs. They will also not have the right to be candidates for the post of the President of the Assembly, as well as chairmen and vice-chairmen of committees and subcommittees. In addition, their right to represent the Assembly in the bodies of the Council of Europe, international organizations, and interparliamentary assemblies has been suspended to be reconsidered at the next session of PACE in April.
What were the failed amendments?
The assembly could have ratified the credentials unconditionally or not at all. The amendments for both options were presented in the draft resolution last night.
The Georgian delegation sought unconditional ratification of its credentials. In an explanatory note, they claimed that “there are no legal grounds for organizing new elections in Georgia”. They also sought to remove the paragraph suspending some of their rights in the Assembly and replace it with soft calls for Georgia to continue its EU accession, enhance cooperation with the Council of Europe, and continue to engage in the PACE monitoring process. In addition, they wanted to remove from the resolution the paragraph providing for the reconsideration of their credentials at the next PACE session. Their amendments were co-authored by several deputies, including those from Hungary, Bulgaria, Armenia, and Turkey. All of these amendments failed.
Another failed amendment was a proposal to simply not ratify the credentials. This was proposed by eleven deputies from the EC/DA, SOC, and ALDE groups in PACE.
The PACE winter session is taking place in Strasbourg from 27 to 31 January. Georgia, which was one of the main topics of discussion, was also the only country that had problems with the ratification of the credentials of its delegation members. Civil.ge has been covering the events from the ground.
NOTE: This news article was updated on January 29 at 22:00 to include comments from Tina Bokuchava of Unity-UNM and Nino Dolidze of ISFED on the adoption of the resolution.
Also Read:
- 29/01/2025 – Will PACE Take an Unprecedented Decision on Georgia?
- 28/01/2025 – PACE Debates Georgia, Discusses Critical Report on October 26 Elections
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