Popular Force movement criticises US Embassy for standing up for election watchdog, hints at “revolutionary scenario”
In their response, the MPs comprising the movement said the Embassy’s comments meant it “directly tells the ruling Georgian Dream party that a revolution must take place and the opposition United National Movement party must return to power to open a second front amid the war in Ukraine”.Photo: Parliament of Georgia.
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Popular Force, a newly launched public movement composed of the former ruling Georgian Dream party MPs who exited the team in June, on Monday released a statement saying by standing up for the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian-based election watchdog, the United States Embassy was backing a return to power of the opposition United National Movement party through “revolution” and opening of a “second front” of the ongoing Ukraine war in Georgia.
The statement by the MPs was made in response to remarks from the Embassy on Friday that said “the exclusion of ISFED, one of Georgia’s most trusted and experienced election observation organisations, from the Parliamentary working group on election reforms directly contradicts the European Commission’s recommendation that Georgia ensure the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes at all levels”.
U.S. Embassy Statement on the Exclusion of @isfed_official from the Parliamentary Working Group https://t.co/Qy2kx040Et
— U.S. Embassy Tbilisi (@usingeo) August 19, 2022
The diplomatic office was referencing the exclusion of the organisation from work at the Georgian Parliament on conditions outlined by the European Commission for granting the country the membership candidate status.
In their response, the MPs comprising the movement said the Embassy’s comments meant it “directly tells the ruling Georgian Dream party that a revolution must take place and the opposition United National Movement party must return to power to open a second front amid the war in Ukraine”.
Unfortunately, Georgian Dream forgave ISFED the falsifying of the results of the parallel vote tabulation and involved [the organisation] in a number of working processes after the [2020] Parliamentary elections”, the statement said, in reference to the erroneous vote tallying by the watchdog in the elections, later explained by the organisation by technical issues.
“It was clear that by demanding an answer over the falsified parallel vote tabulation, the Government would enter into a conflict not with one of the NGOs, but with the [US] Embassy, which the Georgian Dream party avoided for obvious reasons”, the Public Force statement said.
However, from today's point of view, it has become clear that the compromise at the expense of truth is never justified. Instead of expressing gratitude for the Government's position, today the US Embassy calls ISFED one of the most trusted non-governmental organisations”, the former GD MPs noted.
The critique also stressed the Embassy had “no other choice” as ISFED, together with several NGOs, was directly involved in the “revolutionary scenario” in the country, the implementation of which was being “coordinated” by the Embassy.
If the Government gives in and includes ISFED in the working process [on the EU membership conditions], it will be a direct capitulation to the Embassy and the United National Movement, and we will do everything to prevent this from happening”, the statement concluded.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Sunday said ISFED had “refused to distance itself” from the opposition’s demand of a technical government involving the opposition being formed in the country, adding the refusal had served as the basis of not inviting the organisation to the Parliamentary working group on electoral issues.
“ISFED should tell the public whether they will withdraw the ultimatum to have a decisive say in forming the government; if they withdraw the ultimatum, then they can participate in the working group”, Papuashvili said.