UNM’s Chair: Meeting with PACE delegation focused on specific instruments to apply legal and financial pressure on Ivanishvili

Chairwoman of the United National Movement, Tina Bokuchava, stated that a range of issues were discussed during a meeting with the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), including the recent initiatives to ban political parties in Georgia.

According to Bokuchava, the discussions centred on “specific instruments to apply maximum legal and financial international pressure on Ivanishvili.”

“Everyone remembers the last resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. This is essentially a call to the Russian regime to stop repressive actions and an acknowledgement that abolishing political parties in Georgia amounts to consolidating a dictatorship. Therefore, this issue was discussed, as well as the importance of releasing political prisoners.

We also discussed using other specific tools under the Council of Europe’s framework, such as filing an interstate lawsuit against Ivanishvili’s regime in the European Court of Human Rights, as well as activating anti-corruption instruments to ensure maximum legal and financial pressure on the regime,” she added.

When asked, “Were there any questions regarding the events of October 4? Have they condemned the violence that took place on October 4?” Bokuchava responded: “Accordingly, we did not participate in the Russian special operation on October 4, which the regime called local self-government elections. We once again emphasized that these elections lacked legitimacy, as evidenced by the historically low voter turnout since the restoration of Georgia’s independence. International partners understand this very well, which is why, despite great efforts, the regime has not received international recognition of these so-called elections.”