Several NGOs temporarily suspend participation in all working groups created by the ruling party

A number of non-governmental organizations temporarily suspend participation in all working groups created on the initiative of the ruling party. This is stated in a statement signed by the Freedom of Information Development Institute, the Democracy Research Institute (DRI), the Georgian Young Lawyers Association and the Center for Social Justice.

According to the statement, the reason for this decision is the fact that the “Fair Elections” were not allowed to participate in the working group to revise the Electoral Code.

Non-governmental organizations call on the leadership of the Georgian Dream to recognize the harmful impact of their decision on the implementation of the EU recommendations and ensure that the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) is included in the working group established on elections until the next meeting of this working group.

“On August 18, 2022, Georgian Dream denied the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) participation in the working group dealing with elections.

The ban on participation of ISFED in the working group dealing with elections is another attempt to discredit critical and independent civil organizations, because of the differing opinion, this decision has a discriminatory nature and context. This Georgian Dream decision is unfair, unjustified and contrary to the spirit of the EU’s first and 10 priorities, which require depolarization and “inclusion of civil organizations at all levels of decision-making,” the statement said.

It notes that until ISFED is admitted to the working group, the organizations that signed the statement temporarily suspend participation in all working groups created at the initiative of the ruling party.