OCCRP: OSCE PA Official Traveled to Event Organized by Top GD Figure Ahead of October Elections

Roberto Montella, the Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly attended a football match in Tbilisi, which was organized by Kakha Kaladze, one of the leading figures of the ruling Georgian Dream party and Tbilisi mayor, just weeks before the country’s pivotal parliamentary elections on October 26, OCCRP, one of the world’s largest investigative journalism organizations, reported on February 20.

Both Montella and Kaladze are former football players. They both played for AC Milan and are old friends. The OCCRP report raises questions about Montella’s impartiality and adherence to OSCE rules, as he is said to have played a significant role in the OSCE’s high-profile election monitoring mission in Georgia. The report notes that  “as Secretary General of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly, he would not only participate as an observer, but also help administer the mission and take part in a closed-room discussion over the wording of its initial post-election report.”

“It is not appropriate to participate in situations involving political parties, especially given the highly sensitive discussion currently taking place about Georgia,” said Johan Büser, the Parliamentary Assembly’s treasurer, as quoted by the OCCRP.

The OSCE/ODIHR final report on Georgia stated that the elections were generally “well administered” but that they took place amid “serious concerns” about recently adopted legislation on basic freedoms and civil society, steps to diminish the independence of institutions involved in the electoral process, and pressure on voters. Both the ruling party and the opposition cite the report in support of their positions.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Code of Conduct requires staff to “refrain from any action that might cast doubt on their ability to act impartially”. The OSCE Election Observation Guidelines state that “any potential conflicts of interest which could raise doubts in the eyes of a seemingly reasonable and neutral person…disqualifies a candidate from being an observer.”

Montella told reporters that there was no conflict of interest. He also said that he did not participate in the GD-organized events. “I accepted an invitation from the AC Milan Legends together with a number of AC Milan former football players whom I have known for years,” OCCRP quotes Montella.

Pia Kauma, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly also denied that he had violated the observers’ code of conduct. She said she knew about the visit beforehand adding: “We as international election observers know many of the election stakeholders in the countries where we observe. With some we are close friends.” She claimed this does not have an effect on the observers’ functions.

Kauma herself found herself in an awkward position when she had to cancel her visit to Georgia on January 6, two days before it was due to take place. This followed the sharp criticism that the announcement of her visit had drawn from the opposition parties and President Salome Zurabishvili, who warned that the visit would be manipulated by the ruling GD party to legitimize what the opposition and President Zurabishvili, as well as the majority of Georgia’s Western partners, consider to be an illegitimate government and parliament. Opposition parties and civil society have reportedly refused to meet with her and the accompanying delegation.

The OCCRP article quotes experts who say that seemingly non-political events still have political significance.

GD “is using invitations to high-profile and often exclusive events to woo foreign officials and prejudice them in favor of the Georgian authorities,” says Anton Shekhovstov, a visiting professor at Vienna’s Central European University.

“Kaladze directly uses his background in football for political purposes,” wrote Hans Gutbrod, professor in policy studies at Tbilisi’s Ilia State University. “The mobilization of his old teammates is part of an orchestrated attempt to give himself a glamorous veneer,” he adds.

The October 26 parliamentary elections in Georgia were deemed neither free nor fair by credible international and local observers. As a result of the disputed elections, the rump Parliament and the GD government are viewed as largely lacking legitimacy. This legitimacy is further undermined by the intensified repression and violent dispersals of protests, resulting in the hundreds of people arrested and battered. New elections are one of the demands of the ongoing protests.

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