The Coalition for Change, Unity – United National Movement, and Strong Georgia have sent a letter to Pia Kauma, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

“Madam President,

On behalf of the democratic political forces of Georgia, we would like to express our appreciation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE/ODIHR for your continuous commitment to ensuring free, fair, and transparent parliamentary elections in Georgia. We would also like to share our concerns regarding the upcoming visit.

Unfortunately, the parliamentary elections of 26 October, 2024, were deeply flawed and held in violation of the constitutional principles of our country, as well as international democratic standards. The scale and intensity of falsification mechanisms used by the Georgian Dream fundamentally undermined the credibility of the electoral process, eroded public trust towards its results and grossly violated fundamental principles of free and fair elections. As a result, the self-proclaimed ‘Parliament,’ which today consists of only the Georgian Dream MPs, as well as the person nominated by the same body as ‘President’ of Georgia, cannot be considered as legitimately elected. Neither reflects the will of the majority of the Georgian voters as expressed through free and fair democratic elections.

In addition to falsified elections, Georgia has witnessed the brutal crackdown, illegal detention, torture, and inhuman treatment of civilians participating in continuous protests over the past weeks. This protest was triggered by the rigged elections and the declaration of the self- proclaimed PM, Irakli Kobakhidze regarding the suspension of Georgia’s EU integration process. To this day not a single case of violence against the peaceful demonstrators has been investigated. Meanwhile, more than 50 people remain in jail on fabricated charges, with hundreds of others facing administrative charges. Ongoing political repressions have been amplified by recent draconian legislative changes, increasing punitive measures against the demonstrators, contradicting both democratic principles and OSCE recommendations. 38 OSCE participating states have invoked the OSCE Vienna Mechanism expressing deep concern over human rights developments in Georgia since the 28 November announcement on withdrawal from the EU membership process, and inviting Georgia to engage in a constructive dialogue.

Participants of large, widespread, and permanent protests across the country demand:

the immediate release of all political prisoners who were illegally detained during peaceful demonstrations, and
conducting new, free, fair, and transparent parliamentary elections.

While choosing to ignore these demands, the self-proclaimed regime of Georgian Dream is solely focused on achieving international recognition of the results of the falsified elections of 26 October, 2024, its illegitimate one-party ‘parliament,’ and ‘president.’ The regime and its propaganda machinery have a history of instrumentalizing the visits of international delegations to falsely claim that each encounter with them means legitimizing the self- proclaimed regime of Georgian Dream. The most recent example of such a strategy is the visit of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, which was exploited in this manner, causing significant backlash among the democratic opposition and civil society.

That is why we are deeply concerned regarding the risks posed by the upcoming visit of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation. The visit would be timely only if it facilitates a conducive environment for meaningful steps from the self- proclaimed regime of Georgian Dream towards resolving the political crisis namely, the release of all political prisoners and concrete steps for preparing the new parliamentary elections.

It is also important to note that key figures of the self-proclaimed regime of the Georgian Dream, including oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is responsible for democratic backsliding, electoral fraud, state-sponsored terror, mass human rights violations, and the persecution of political opponents and activists, are subject to international sanctions imposed by Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and the United States. Members of the U.S. Congress and Helsinki Commission leaders – who are also members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly — are actively introducing legislative acts against the self-proclaimed regime of the Georgian Dream and calling for further sanctions.

In these circumstances it is vital to take the necessary steps to prevent the self-proclaimed regime of Georgian Dream from using the upcoming visit for its propaganda purposes and prevent recognition in any form of the legitimacy of the ‘parliament’ convened on 25 November 2024, the ‘president’ and the ‘ministers’ of the self-proclaimed regime of Georgian Dream. Instead, the international community must treat the regime – and refer to it as a self-proclaimed regime of the Georgian Dream party which has usurped the political power in Georgia against the will of the Georgian people.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, reviewing the credentials of the Georgian delegation, has to take into consideration that any potential delegation representing Georgia will be composed solely of the members of the self-proclaimed regime of the Georgian Dream, given that the opposition does not acknowledge the legitimacy of ‘parliament.’ Moreover, some of the individuals who might be nominated as members of the delegation may be subject to existing international sanctions.

Madam President,
Your leadership and principled stance are vital for safeguarding democratic values in Georgia. We trust that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will act in alignment with these values, ensuring that your visit supports the aspirations of the Georgian people for a democratic and prosperous future.

However, under the circumstances, when there is no commitment to either releasing political prisoners or starting a discussion regarding a date of the new parliamentary elections, the visit might only further the goals of the Russian- backed self-proclaimed regime of Bidzina Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream. Therefore, we strongly recommend postponing your visit until firm commitment regarding holding new parliamentary elections and release of political prisoners is secured.

We remain at your disposal for any further dialogue or clarification,” the letter reads.