“Turning a blind eye to the real problems does not assist our strategic relations – a credible investigation by Congress into the manipulation of parallel vote counting (PVC) would have been an appropriate appreciation of the Georgian people’s support for America,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili remarked on ISFED’s error in parallel vote count data in 2020.

“It is interesting whether the Ambassador was aware of the incorrect findings from parallel counting,” the Speaker went on. “If turns out that the Ambassador was aware of and failed to reveal the incorrect findings of the parallel counting, it will undermine the integrity of the facilitation-mediation process and the April 19 agreement.

“It is a distinct matter what the then the U.S. Ambassador, who at the time served as a mediator between the government and the opposition, knew.

Given that USAID is a government entity based in the U.S. Embassy, it’s hard to believe that the Ambassador was unaware of the situation. If turns out that the Ambassador was aware of and failed to reveal the incorrect findings of the parallel counting, it will undermine the integrity of the facilitation-mediation process and the April 19 agreement.

Georgia stood by the American people whenever it was needed. The Helsinki Commission speaks on behalf of the American people. We, as the democratically elected government of Georgia, call on it, on behalf of the Georgian people, to investigate this contentious subject and establish the truth,” the Speaker added.