Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly adopts resolution on Georgia

Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has adopted a resolution on ‘the functioning of democratic institutions in Georgia’ applauded all the political forces in Georgia for the handover of power which occurred "peacefully and democratically” following the 2012 parliamentary and 2013 presidential elections.

During a plenary debate on Wednesday, the Assembly also welcomed the comprehensive reforms announced by the authorities, including constitutional reform, to further strengthen the country’s democratic institutions and guarantee the independence of the judiciary and an adversarial justice system.

The resolution was prepared by the monitoring co-rapporteurs, Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark, ALDE) and Boriss Cilevics (Latvia, SOC) was supported by 103 Assembly members against 27. However, Georgian delegation did not vote for the resolution.

On the basis of the conclusions of the monitoring co-rapporteurs, PACE noted with satisfaction that the emergence of a strong opposition, combined with a well-organised ruling coalition, "has strengthened the role of the parliament”.

At the same time, the resolution read that Georgia had to overcome ‘polarisation’ to continue democratic development.

However, the monitoring co-rapporteur Cilevics expressed his "dissatisfaction” about the content of the resolution and said "this kind of documents would not assist the country”.

"I am not satisfied. These are general estimations. The document lacks notes about the progress and achievements of the country. Maybe there have to be some problems but we cannot blame Georgia for it. On the contrary we have to help the country with our recommendations,” he said.

"The greatest problem is polarisation. It is beyond the normal political affairs. You need to have cooperation. Our vision and mission have to overcome the polarisation. You have to work together and not fight with each other,” Cilevics told Georgian journalists after the resolution was adopted.

Meanwhile, the text calls on the authorities to ensure that the investigation and prosecution of former government officials – based on allegations of possible criminal conduct during their tenure – are conducted impartially, in respect of the principles of a fair trial, as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.

The resolution also took note of the charges filed against former President Mikheil Saakashvili who was sentenced in absentia to pre-trial detention by Tbilisi City Court on August 2 after being charged in relation to numerous criminal cases.

"[…] while emphasising that no one is above the law, urges the authorities to ensure that, given the charged political climate in the country, the legal proceedings, including requests for pre-trial detention, against him are not influenced by political motivations; urges the authorities to investigate fully and in a transparent manner any allegations of improper conduct by law-enforcement agencies or the prosecution in relation to these cases,” read the resolution.

The parliamentarians also expresses its concern about the length of the pre-trial detention of former Defence Minister Bacho Akhalaia and asks the authorities to use all legal means available to replace his detention on remand with some other non-custodial precautionary measure.

The country will have to "overcome the antagonism, polarisation and sense of revenge” still present in order to continue its democratic development, concluded the Assembly.