PACE’s Laura Castel: Some opposition forces are only concerned with blaming government for everything, forgetting that their place is in institutions, where they can and should work

“Monitoring the developments in our member state, Georgia, remains very much needed. For too many years, politics had been poisoned and still is instead of working hard on all parts of Georgian politics to the nenefit of positive developments of vibrant democracy, strong rule of law structures and fundamental respect for human rights, politicians are fighting with each other for wrong reasons,” said Laura Castel, Co-Chair of the Left Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

According to Castel, strong political debate and competition are needed since this helps to strengthen Georgian democracy.

“Unfortunately, a large part of Georgian politicians act in the opposite direction. At this moment, those who support the government often cast a blind eye to grave misdoings by politicians from opposition parties. Freedom of speech, the right to have a free press and the right of society to act in freedom are under pressure. It is unacceptable to have politicians in prison; they should be in parliament and public debate.

At the same time, several opposition forces are only concerned with blaming the government for everything, and forget that their place is in the institutions, where they can and should work. Boycotting parliament does not make sense. It does not help Georgian citizens and society as a whole. As United European Lefts, we want to press politicians on all sides to do better than they are doing now. This includes pressure on the government to behave according to its obligations under its constitution and under the European Convention on Human Rights,” she said.

Castel stated that the Committee of Ministers should act faster and more strictly, as it appears not to be effective enough.

“The Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly should start the complementary procedure to act if Georgia wants to remain here. We should also demand that the Georgian Parliament send a full-fledged delegation to our Assembly so that we can discuss all matters here with all political forces. Georgian citizens are entitled to have a functional political structure in the benefit of the whole society,” she concluded.