Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili's annual address to legislative body

Ladies and Gentlemen, my today’s speech is my last report as a Speaker of the Parliament before the 2024 parliamentary elections. This is why, in addition to presenting 2023 report, I will use this opportunity to summarise the processes developed around and with participation of current convocation of Parliament that was full of political and historic developments.

During last years, Georgia and its government had to overcome several epochal challenges. Indeed, the Parliament and the Government had to deal with the global, once-a-century pandemic, and had to be on a knife-edge between saving as much lives as possible and securing the economy.

The pandemic was not yet over when Russian aggression against Ukraine had begun. Georgia faced a historic threat – to get involved in a world-scale conflict that would bring no less destruction and human tragedies than the chaos of the 1990s.

Responsible and patriotic political opposition would have stood by the government of every country to help unite the country and tackle these two paramount threats. However, the opposite happened in Georgia. In reality, the radicalisation of the opposition has become a third big threat to our country. All of you remember the scale of radicalisation during 2020 parliamentary elections, when radical political groups did not hesitate to even try to capture power with non-democratic means through the spread of propaganda on so-called “rigged” elections.

Something similar happened in 2022 when, in parallel to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the opposition confronted its own people and openly called for the government to send fighters to Ukraine and get involved in a war of sanctions with Russia.

Fortunately, the Georgian Government did its utmost to neutralise all three big threats – pandemic, war and radicalism. Moreover, we tackled these big challenges so that we did not cede any democratic achievement, maintained peace and security, provided assistance to our brotherly Ukrainian people, took care of health and prosperity of our population to the maximum extent and reached historic success on Georgia’s European integration path.

This is our historic achievement and legacy that our government has attained in the best interests of our people. Due to these achievements, we enjoy unprecedented support of the population before the upcoming elections.

I made this introduction to once again highlight the context in which the Parliament of Georgia had to operate during last three years.

Despite these challenges, in legislative, oversight and other dimensions, the Parliament did not spare its effort to protect the interests of our people and our homeland. Hereby, I would like to present several key statistics regarding 2023 parliamentary activity. For more details, a printed version of the 2023 report is distributed for you and is also available on the Parliament’s web-page.

65 plenary sessions of the Parliament of Georgia were held in 2023, 10 out of which (15% of all sessions) were boycotted and not attended by the opposition in different configurations. The Parliament of Georgia adopted 622 laws at its plenary sessions. The following laws shall be highlighted:

•    Law on Management of Water Resources
•    Law on Industrial Emissions
•    Law on Tourism
•    Law on Public Procurements
•    Law on E-Commerce
•    Law on Personal Data Protection
•    Defence Code of Georgia
•    Penitentiary Code
•    Amendments to the Law on Broadcasting

Exactly such issues are key to increasing prosperity of our population and substantially approximating with the EU. However, except for rare cases, the opposition unfortunately did not participate in substantially discussing these laws.

In the reporting period, the Parliament worked on: 620 legislative initiatives, 54 international agreements, treaties and conventions, reports, nominated candidatures for approval and for obtaining confidence, etc. 142 legislative initiatives and 8 petitions were received for consideration. 

139 Members of Parliament made use of the right of legislative initiative. 

During last years, as a result of amendments to the Rules of Procedure, the Parliament of Georgia substantially strengthened one of its key functions – the oversight activity, that underscores the effectiveness of democratic reforms implemented during last years. 

During 2023, the Parliament of Georgia was actively exercising parliamentary control over the executives through using different oversight mechanisms determined in the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure. Almost half of 65 plenary sessions were dedicated to hearings of accountable bodies. In particular, in 2023, 2 hearings of the Prime-Minister, 18 hearings of Ministers (in the frameworks of both interpellation and Minister’s Hour), as well as 10 hearings of representatives of accountable bodies were held. 

During the reporting period, up to 3000 questions of 48 Members of Parliament were sent to different bodies/institutions. Besides general oversight instruments, parliamentary oversight over defence-security field fruitfully continued in the frameworks of 14 meetings of the Trust Group. The opposition member of the Trust Group from “National Movement” faction did not participate in any of these meetings that clearly shows how real the interest of the opposition is towards the oversight over security field, beyond constant complaining before the general public and external partners.  

The Parliament pays special attention to openness and transparency and, already for years, has been one of the most open and accessible institutions in this regard. In particular, in 2023, 383 requests for public information were submitted to the Parliament of Georgia. Respective answers were prepared and sent to the addressees.

In addition, Parliament’s TV channel was launched on the base of Public Broadcaster that transmits all sessions of the Parliament’s Bureau, committees and plenary sessions. We also have the Parliament’s YouTube channel that, for the first time in the history of the Parliament of Georgia, makes full video archive of parliamentary sessions since September 2022 available for every citizen. As a novelty, stenograms and protocols of parliamentary plenary sessions will be placed on Parliament’s webpage since today. All stenograms of 2023 sessions are already available on the webpage. Earlier archive will also be uploaded step-by-step.

Ladies and Gentlemen, As you remember, Georgian Dream was the only political party whose main electoral promise before the 2020 parliamentary elections was to submit the EU membership application by 2024. Now 2024 has come and we can proudly state that we not only did apply for the EU membership, but got the EU candidate country status. We attained this historic achievement without damaging country’s interests, weakening democracy and reducing economy. 

The Parliament of Georgia implemented a historic mission by taking a flagship role among national institutions in the process of obtaining the EU candidate country status.

Up to 100 qualitatively important laws and regulations were adopted in the frames of parliamentary committees, working groups and plenary sessions that were directly related to the implementation of tasks necessary for the candidate status:

•  We strengthened oversight instruments of the Parliament of Georgia;
•  We created stronger, more effective, accountable and transparent anti corruption, justice and electoral systems;
•  We elected a new Public Defender and fully staffed the High Council of Justice;
•  Signed a Memorandum on cooperation with the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum’s Georgian National Platform, the biggest union of civil society organisations.

We have visited all EU capitals. We have informed all decision-makers on Georgia’s progress.

For this purpose, I held consultations with ten speakers of Parliaments of EU member states in different formats. With similar motivation, vice-speakers, friendship groups, committees and permanent parliamentary delegations held hundreds of meetings with their European counterparts.

In Georgia, we hosted nine Speakers of Parliaments of EU member states; the Speakers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Slavkov format, the 48th Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie. All this was done for one goal – to provide Parliament’s share contribution to Georgia's EU membership process.

As a result, joint efforts of our people and government were properly appreciated and Georgia was granted the EU membership candidate country status. I would like to, once again, thank members of Parliament and Government, Georgia’s diplomatic corps and our foreign partners, public servants, particularly, staff members of the Parliament, and our population, to everybody who contributed to making this dream a reality with his/her work, emotion, and support.

At the same time, ladies and gentlemen, the saga of obtaining the candidate status was a grain of sand in which the nature of the entire Georgia political world was clearly demonstrated. In particular, everyone, both enemies and friends, saw very well that the opposition was relentlessly using its political arsenal, in the form of disinformation and radicalisation, to seize power through illegal methods by weakening state institutions. And since we will probably witness plenty of both this year again, I would like to show the anatomy of the waves of disinformation and radicalisation to the public. Let it be a lesson to all, so that we do not face similar challenges this year.

Let us start with disinformation, which over a period of the last three years has become the main tool for deepening the polarisation in Georgian politics, weakening of state institutions, and damaging the country’s foreign policy goals.

For years, the opposition tried to accuse the ruling party of being pro-Russian. This attempt was manifested in domestic political propaganda, it was pouring from the television channels belonging to the opposition, we heard it from foreign actors aligned with the opposition, but to this day, no one has managed to explain – with at least a modicum of logic, let alone with facts – why the opposition is attacking the authorities’ foreign policy.

The position of the parliamentary majority was and is a policy of strategic patience, which, for more than a decade, has been a policy agreed with our strategic partners, taking into account Georgia’s grave geopolitical challenges and national interests.

We must once again unequivocally communicate to our public that such a responsible foreign policy is the only way for Georgia, which is not protected by either NATO’s nuclear umbrella or the system of the economic solidarity of the European Union, so that it may save itself in the historic struggle with a disproportionately more powerful opponent and attain its cherished goals of restoring its territorial integrity, enhancing the well-being of the population, and solidifying our place in the European family.

The above is understood by everyone, both grown-up and young, in Europe and the United States. It is impossible for the opposition not to understand this. Therefore, their irresponsible speculation on the “Russian issue” can only be explained by a conscious and intentional betrayal of national interests.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the start of aggressive war came as a surprise to many of our Western partners. But nothing new happened for Georgia in February 2022. As an independent country, we have existed under conditions of existential threats for decades and as a nation, we have suffered the consequences of Russian occupation and aggression for centuries. When we raised our voice against the Russian aggression, many were lethargic and came to their senses only when Russia launched a full-scale war right on the borders of the European Union. Before that, we remember ‘resetting’ relations, joint strategic projects of the century, and joint military parades on Red Square. Despite our repeated warnings, due to the sense of comfort felt by some, the once local bully has evolved into a global aggressor today. It would be beneficial if the perspective and historical consciousness of some extended beyond 2022 and encompassed 1801, 1921, or, at least, 1989.

This did not prevent our country from making its dignified contribution to strengthening of the world peace. Over the years, our government has steadfastly fulfilled its international obligations to achieve peace and security in the world’s hotspots. Our brave military servicemen and servicewomen fought alongside our partners, wherever our friends needed us. We have not yielded ground, neither for a single moment nor a single centimetre. We went where others did not dare go; we fulfilled missions and operations impossible for others; our boys were dying so that we all could sleep peacefully. Georgia and our people have nothing to prove to anyone – we fought relentlessly wherever our battles took us.

We are not surprised by the forgetfulness, inaction, and sudden awakening of some of our friends two years ago. We are surprised and pained by the attempt by our opposition – our own flesh and blood – to put the country in mortal danger just to seize the opportunity to gain power.

Thank God, their efforts ended in vain, and everyone saw how damaging our opposition’s selfish radicalism and neglect of national interests can be. We were able to avert vital threats, not only preserving our sovereignty but also propelling our economy forward at an unprecedented pace and taking historic steps towards integration with Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen, Accusing the government of being pro-Russian was just one tool in the opposition’s disgraceful arsenal.

What the opposition did in connection with the 2020 elections turned out to be no less damaging for our country. For almost a year, they actively spread disinformation about the 2020 parliamentary elections being rigged, despite lacking any evidence to support their claims. And when the Parliamentary Investigative Commission requested the evidence, no substantiated claim could be presented, and this entire fake campaign came down like a house of cards. While it is true that the disinformation was exposed and fraudulent activity was revealed, a lingering misperception still persisted both within Georgia and abroad that something was not in order and that there may have been a breach of democracy.

All in all, the goal of disinformation is often exactly that – to leave a negative sentiment, perception, or impression, regardless of the truth. Unfortunately, our opposition has actively adopted this simple, crude, and disgraceful method and turned disinformation into the main weapon of political struggle.

It is a sad reality that the authorities and the public had to fight this disinformation alone. Non-governmental organisations – typically expected to assess events from a neutral position – were silent at best, while actually participating in the creation and dissemination of disinformation in some cases. It is unfortunate that, in the Georgian reality, several such organisations often compete with and even surpass the opposition in the concerted dissemination of disinformation. A segment of the non-governmental sector, which should represent public interests, effectively allied itself with radical politicians.

Since radicalism is alien and unacceptable to Georgian culture, the actions of radical politicians and their allied non-governmental organisations cannot produce the effect they sometimes intend. People do not listen to radicals.

Disinformation from radical parties and organisations only becomes effective when some of our strategic partners become unwitting participants of the disinformation campaign.

The most notable example of the above occurred during the campaign and rallies in March of the last year, which were aimed at obstructing our efforts to ensure the transparency of the funds received from abroad in Georgia. These funds are used by various organisations and their allied political parties, often inappropriately and illegally.

Time has shown that the claim voiced by the groups concerned about the draft law at the time – suggesting that foreign funding was already transparent to the public – was not true. Today, it can be stated with certainty that the non-governmental sector is the least transparent among the institutions involved in the process of making decisions on public issues.

Time has also shown that the law On the Transparency of Finances was in no way a law “on agents” or a “Russian law.” In addition to the fact that everyone was convinced that the draft law was a literal translation of the law in force in the United States of America, the public also witnessed how the idea of adopting such a law in the European Union emerged without any hysteria and is being discussed.

This is natural. We live in an era of unprecedented tension in international security, where underground, hybrid operations have practically become a natural weapon of politics. It is the duty of every state to protect the interests of its citizens and to ensure the stability of the political system against external influences. Transparency, as democratic theory teaches us, is the most effective weapon of such defence. Therefore, it is unclear why foreign financial operations carried out in Georgia should lack transparency, depriving the public of the right to understand the sources of funding and underlying interests of entities seeking involvement in the governmental decision-making process.

The violent rallies of March showed us that our strategic partners have a special responsibility in curbing radicalism in Georgia. Any ambiguous statements made by them can be successfully utilised by radical, irresponsible groups against the state and the democratic system. This was manifested during the preceding demonstrations, for the first time in the history of our country, in the attempt to burn people alive with Molotov cocktails.

The year-and-a-half-long campaign by the opposition, which claimed that Georgia was being used by Russia to circumvent sanctions, was yet another disgraceful example of using disinformation against national interests. I will not begin citing examples. We are all well aware of the participants and scale of this campaign, which has greatly damaged Georgia’s international reputation.

Our strategic partners, albeit belatedly, confirmed beyond any doubt that Georgia has not once, I repeat, not once violated the sanctions against Russia. Yet, similar to the election fraud campaign, here too a perception, a sentiment, an impression emerged that Georgia is failing to fulfil its obligations adequately. And the same thing happened again – many people in Georgia and abroad were left with a bad feeling about Georgia. The main goal of the disinformation campaign has been achieved. The opposition has harmed its own country in the hope that it will somehow help it gain power.

Regarding the sanctions imposed on Russia, there is one circumstance that should be emphasised once again. For two years, we have been observing how various types of sanctions are imposed on Russia. We see that the issue of the essence of sanctions, and particularly, the relevant exceptions, is sometimes the matter of a long discussion by EU member states. Which is natural. In the wake of making Russia pay for its war of aggression, all member states are careful not to impose sanctions that would harm their security or economic interests more than those of Russia. Georgia, as a non-member of the European Union, does not participate in this discussion. Therefore, unlike EU member states, Georgia’s security and economic interests are not discussed during the imposition of sanctions. However, despite the fact that we do not participate in the decision making, it is precisely due to our special solidarity with the people of Ukraine that we have undertaken to ensure that Georgian territory is not used to circumvent the EU-imposed sanctions. And as always, we surely honour our commitments.

Lastly, the most disgraceful aspect of the disinformation campaign, which the opposition has written into Georgia’s recent history, revolves around former President Saakashvili. His rightful imprisonment and the period spent serving his sentence in the clinic were rife with direct and unsubstantiated accusations and rumours. The opposition claimed that Saakashvili was poisoned and on the verge of death. When this primitive lie did not work, Saakashvili immediately forgot the myth of illness and, “restored to health,” thrown himself directly into the vortex of radicalisation.

Subsequently, it was revealed, with the help of the American Foreign Agent Registry Act, that lobbyists, paid in the millions of dollars, were and are behind critical resolutions of the European Parliament and the articles and interviews by certain foreign politicians, published and broadcast in foreign media and television.

Unfortunately, yet again, Saakashvili’s disinformation has been accompanied by disgraceful support from some among the non-governmental sector and certain foreign entities. The lies were soon exposed. Everyone clearly saw the truth. Unfortunately, however, in this case as well, many within and outside the country were left with a negative sentiment, perception, or impression that the authorities are doing something wrong with regard to Saakashvili.  This negative perception is the result of disinformation, as it was in the cases of alleged electoral fraud and the alleged circumvention of sanctions.

In these and other cases, the Georgian justice system came under direct assault alongside the Georgian state itself. Whenever they wanted to discredit Georgian justice, they used the following cases as evidence: the case of Rustavi 2, the case of Akhalaia, the case of the use of excessive force while dispersing the demonstration, the case of Melia, and the case of Saakashvili. These are the cases on which the campaign of tarnishing the reputation of the Georgian court was built over the years. Even today, you can easily find old statements by the opposition, non-governmental organisations, and certain foreign actors regarding these cases on the Internet, where they protest and condemn the decisions of the Georgian court while assessing them as backsliding. Fortunately, such disinformation has a limit, which, in the case of Georgia, was clearly delineated by the European Court of Human Rights, which unequivocally showed that the Georgian court was right in all these cases and that all those who attacked it were lying.

Even today, after the truth has been revealed, we do not expect anyone within or outside the country to apologise for their actions. But I call on everyone to engage in deeper reflection, especially starting today, to glean lessons from the past, and to avoid intentionally or inadvertently perpetuating the disinformation that undermines democratic institutions in the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, thus, it is clear to everyone that disinformation has flooded Georgian politics in recent years. Disinformation has led to emotions, and emotions have led to the accumulation of a great deal of negative energy in political circles and among the public. Our foreign partners often call this negative energy “political polarisation.”

I would like to stress that we are not dealing with any kind of polarisation. Polarisation implies that the public is divided along the lines of values or ideology, which is not the case in Georgia. The public is united, and polarisation actually manifests itself in the radicalisation of certain political parties.

Political radicalism is not just the intensity of political views. Radicalism is a stance that is aimed against the Constitution, the democratically elected government, and legitimate national institutions. For almost four years, part of the opposition has been engaged in precisely this manifestation of radicalism.

It can be said that the roots of radicalism go back even further. After 2012, the National Movement and its satellite parties rejected or boycotted election results every time they lost the elections. At no time have they offered a remotely persuasive justification for rejecting the legitimacy of democratically elected structures of governance. Furthermore, their rhetoric is constantly aimed at changing the government not by democratic and legal but by forceful and illegal methods.

Any issue is politicised and then used as a political tool. Nothing is sacred to them on this path. Radicals used the policy of Georgia’s rapprochement with the European Union, the date of the start of the August 2008 War, and even the day of victory in the Second World War as an excuse for division. Even this was not enough, and recently they tried to turn the century-old tradition of celebrating Christmas into a political tool.

When a political force and affiliated organisations and individuals try to divide the public in this manner and use any controversial topic as a political tool, it is clear that cooperation with such forces will be very difficult, to put it mildly.

How unfortunate it is that the institution that is most responsible for protecting the Constitution, national interests, and institutions, achieving national accord and uniting the country has been caught up in the disgraceful trap of radicalisation.

Two weeks ago, we listened to Ms. Salome Zourabichvili from this tribune, whose speech once again left us with feelings of disillusionment and disappointment. Instead of a speech focused on national interests, we heard yet another attempt at political retribution, which further degraded the reputation and significance of the President as an institution.

The President of Georgia violated the Constitution by engaging in foreign political activities without permission from the Government of Georgia. Our assessment was directly confirmed by the Constitutional Court of Georgia.

The President’s action was an attempt to undermine Georgia’s statehood. This is not only a political issue but also a matter of principle, national importance. It was openly indicated to Salome Zourabichvili by the Parliament and the Constitutional Court of Georgia that she was violating the Constitution, and yet she decided that her personal decision takes precedence over the Parliament, the Constitution, the Constitutional Court, and national interests.

Let us imagine for one moment if other branches of government were to refuse to enact the decisions of the Constitutional Court, akin to Salome Zourabichvili. Is this the example that the President should set for the country, the public, and future generations? Is this what she thinks of as Europe?

The highest official of the country, entrusted with the role of unifying the nation, has become a force of division, effectively aligning with the agenda of the radical opposition by exacerbating radicalisation. In doing so, she has severely compromised not the international image and interests of the Georgian Dream, but those of Georgia as a whole.

2024 will be a year of big challenges for Georgia. First and foremost, this is an election year. It is in the interest of all responsible parties, citizens, and allied foreign partners of Georgia that the elections are held peacefully and fairly. For this, we must join forces. It is vital for Georgian democracy that the promotion of radicalism becomes a thing of the past, and the legitimacy of the government elected as a result of the healthy competition of political forces is unequivocally affirmed.

We have made great strides on this path. The electoral legislation has been reformed, effectively ruling out any speculation about election fraud. I would like to highlight the electronic election systems in this context, which will be used for the first time on such a large scale in this year’s elections.

Secondly, the arc of fire, aggression, and violence is increasingly widening around Georgia. From Ukraine to the Middle East, our partner democracies are under unprecedented pressure. The objective of the democratic community should be to save and develop Georgia as an oasis of democratic stability. To this end, all healthy forces within and outside the country must unite. We must not allow war and violence to spread to Georgia and, at the same time, we must bolster our democracy and the rule of law.

Thirdly, the current year must become the year of rapprochement with the European Union and NATO. In the last ten years, the Georgian Dream government has made unprecedented progress in advancing towards Europe. It is imperative that this progress continues and, moreover, accelerates. As I mentioned, the Parliament has done an unprecedented amount of work to implement the 12 recommendations and deepen sectoral integration. We are ready to do more. The less obstruction there is from the opposition, the more efficient and effective our efforts will be.

It should be noted that Georgia is not competing with anyone on the path to the European Union, despite the opposition’s persistent but futile efforts to portray it otherwise. According to the majority of objective parameters, even today, Georgia is ahead of many EU candidate countries, but this is not our goal in itself. Our main goal is membership of the European Union.

It would be desirable for NATO to follow the example of the European Union by providing Georgia with clearer membership criteria. Meeting these criteria would bring our country closer to the North Atlantic Alliance, mirroring the process with the European Union.

In conclusion, I would like to extend a proposal for cooperation to you. Georgia is our common homeland. Although people support the Georgian Dream, it does not mean that our victory will be the victory of the Georgian Dream alone.

Therefore, I appeal to you to join us in making this year not a year of radicalisation and confrontation but one of democratic parliamentary elections, overcoming geopolitical challenges, uniting the country, and moving closer to the European Union and NATO. This is the primary interest of the population and the paramount interest of our common motherland, Georgia. Thank you very much.