Parliament Speaker calls on Georgia’s int’l partners to “adhere to your standards” of non-interference

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday called on the country’s international partners to “at least adhere to the standards [you] hold others to” in comments over alleged ongoing external interference into domestic affairs ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26.

“Today, when the Western world is in confrontation with Russia precisely because it is Russia that is violating the principle of non-interference provided by the United Nations Charter and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, you should not act in the way that you are fighting against with your words”, Papuashvili said.

The Speaker further claimed developments in the country ahead of the elections were a “direct interference in internal political issues”.

Foreign politicians arrive [in Georgia] and take direct political positions of one side or another. It is the influence on the electorate that is anti-democratic. Therefore, I encourage everyone to at least live up to the standard that they hold others to”, he noted.

Papuashvili also on Tuesday urged foreign partners to refrain from the alleged involvement so that “the people of Georgia can vote for the political force they deem necessary with their own views, beliefs and opinions, without interference from the outside”.