Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream announced suspension of its work in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), RFE/RL Georgia reports. The party’s representatives Tea Tsulukiani and Givi Mikanadze made the announcement from Strasbourg during a special broadcast on Imedi TV on 29 January, following PACE’s adoption of a critical resolution.
The resolution, which passed the same day with 114 votes in favor, 13 against, and 7 abstentions, calls on Georgian authorities to release political prisoners and announce new parliamentary elections by April 2025. PACE also recognized the Georgian Dream delegation’s mandate with “restricted rights” and announced plans to revisit the issue in April 2025.
Tsulukiani claimed during the broadcast that several conditions are unacceptable as they are “unjust and unfounded.” She called the demand for new elections “categorically unacceptable,” stating it allegedly “exceeds the competence of this assembly, infringes on the sovereignty of our country and ignores the will and facts of more than 1,120,000 voters.“
Tea Tsulukiani read out the decision of the Georgian Dream delegation, which stated:
“Despite the fact that our authority has been approved, from today we are ceasing work in the Parliamentary Assembly.”
The MP said her party will resume participation in the Assembly only after the “unfair attitude towards the Georgian state and people changes, the blackmail ends,” claiming that the resolution’s demands are “anti-Georgian.”
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze later told Imedi TV that PACE’s decision was “absolutely absurd” and held “no substantial significance for our country.“
Tsulukiani clarified that while the delegation suspends its work, “Georgia, clearly, remains a member of the Council of Europe as a state.”
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