24/01/2008 Session
Strasbourg, 24.01.2008 – The recent crisis preceding Georgia’s presidential election has overshadowed the “numerous positive steps” it has taken to fulfil its Council of Europe obligations, the organisation’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) said today.
Debating Georgia’s record following an address by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, the parliamentarians said there had been substantial reforms of the most important institutions, and a significant number of commitments had been fulfilled.
Despite significant shortcomings and electoral violations, the recent Presidential election was “for the first time genuinely competitive”, the parliamentarians said, and all political forces should accept the result. However, they also deplored the events preceding the elections – such as the violent dispersal of peaceful demonstrations, the silencing of opposition TV stations and the decision to declare a state of emergency – which had “tarnished” Georgia’s reputation.
President Saakashvili should now do his utmost to strengthen democratic freedoms in Georgia, institute checks and balances and seek consensus, the Assembly said. Georgia should also continue to seek a peaceful and democratic settlement of the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Earlier President Saakashvili told the parliamentarians: “We are profoundly committed to building a stable democracy, but it is a work in progress [...] No matter how difficult this is, we will not deviate.” He also assured them: “Democracy in Georgia today speaks with many voices.”