The Deputy Chairman of the Georgian delegation to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Chairman of the Tbilisi City Assembly, Zurab Abashidze, participated on February 3 in a meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, held in Strasbourg.
During the meeting, one of the items discussed was the results of the fact-finding visit to Georgia on September 24–25, 2025, which was presented by the Congress delegate from the United Kingdom, Stewart Dixon.
Following this presentation, Zurab Abashidze addressed the Congress. He emphasized the transparency of the local self-government elections held on October 4, noting that the electoral process was observed by 27 local and 28 international organizations, as well as representatives from 20 different countries and 73 media outlets.
“International observers highlighted the high level of organization of the voting process, the effective use of technologies, the protection of the secrecy of the vote, and the transparency of procedures. Their assessments confirm that the voting proceeded without hindrance, free of negative trends, and in full compliance with democratic standards. Before deciding to boycott the elections, opposition parties had assured their voters that the use of new electronic voting technologies would practically eliminate the possibility of falsifying election results. Therefore, arguments of distrust toward the elections are incomprehensible. While a part of the opposition parties boycotted the October 4 elections, it is unacceptable for us to face criticism regarding why representatives of opposition parties do not hold political positions” – stated Zurab Abashidze.
According to the representative of the Georgian delegation, he had expected that the document would adequately assess the violent incidents and events that developed after the October 4 elections. As Zurab Abashidze explained, the report also makes no mention of the violent overthrow of the government announced by opposition parties.
“We had expected that you would not be guided by double standards and would condemn this violence to the same degree as European political leaders condemn violence in their own countries and territories. Here, I would like to provide information that those opposition parties which did participate in the elections gained mandates in the city assemblies and, in accordance with the will of the Georgian people, are successfully carrying out their activities” – stated Zurab Abashidze.
At the end, the Georgian delegate expressed hope that the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe would actively and positively engage in the process of overcoming political polarization in Georgia.
“We wish to express our positive attitude and readiness to cooperate with the monitoring mission of the European Charter. We believe that the Congress will play a positive role in the process of ending political polarization in Georgia, and during the monitoring mission, we will have the opportunity to share our visions and arguments in detail” – stated Zurab Abashidze.
The meeting also featured debates and voting on the monitoring reports for Monaco and Montenegro, after which the participants discussed the state of local democracy in Bulgaria and Armenia, as well as observer reports on local elections held in Kosovo, Estonia, North Macedonia, and San Marino. The committee emphasized issues of protecting democracy, combating violence against elected representatives, human rights and the rule of law, as well as ongoing developments in Ukraine and Turkey, the implementation of decisions by the European Court of Human Rights, and cooperation with the Venice Commission. At the end of the session, the work plan for 2026–2027 and the dates of the next meetings were discussed.