Chairman of the Tbilisi City Assembly (Sakrebulo) Zurab Abashidze, addressed the plenary session of the 50th Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CoE) in Strasbourg.

Zurab Abashidze began his address by expressing gratitude to the Council of Europe for sharing the mourning of the Georgian people over the death of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II.

“I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Council of Europe for joining the Georgian people in mourning over the loss of the Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, a figure of historic and exceptional significance for Georgian society. We deeply appreciated the decision of the Council of Europe to lower the flag as a mark of grief. This gesture carries great meaning for us and is highly valued,” he said.

A report from the fact-finding mission implemented on September 24-25 in Tbilisi, led by Stewart Dixon, was presented at the plenary sitting.

According to Zurab Abashidze, the preliminary draft resolution emphasizes the significance of conducting an open dialogue.

“We have constantly emphasized the importance of maintaining healthy and mutually constructive discussions, and we reaffirm our commitment in this regard.

The recently intensified dialogue with civil society and opposition parties should be regarded as a positive step. We can observe open debate on significant issues, livestreamed through media channels. We note that the ruling team has shown readiness to engage with arguments put forward by counterparts.

We believe this important process will continue to expand, ensuring that issues of key importance to our society are addressed through coordinated and well-considered positions. We share the view that dialogue is the proper path toward reducing the polarization of society,” he said.

In addition, Zurab Abashidze said there was an expectation that the report of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe would condemn the violence of October 4 with at least one sentence.

“I would like to provide information in response to the statement concerning the local elections held on October 4th, 2025. As a result of the elections, citizens of Georgia elected members of municipal councils and 64 mayors across 64 municipalities. Enrolled international observers emphasized the high standards of organization of the voting process, the effective use of modern technologies, the protection of ballot secrecy, and the transparency of procedures.

Their assessment confirms that voting proceeded smoothly, without disruption, and in full compliance with democratic standards. We expect the proposed report would at least include one sentence condemning the violence we witnessed on October 4th. Once the election ended, a violent coup against the government had been announced by opposition parties a month before the elections. We expected that double standards would not be applied, and that you would condemn the violence in the same way as European political leaders condemn violence in their own countries and territories.

In conclusion, I believe the Congress can play a constructive role in facilitating the resolution of political polarization in Georgia, and I am confident it will do so,” he said.