Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE), called on the Georgian ruling majority “to uphold political pluralism and preserve the space for political opposition” in a statement coming a day before the country’s Constitutional Court is set to start hearing Georgian Dream’s lawsuit seeking to ban five opposition parties.
“Without prejudging the outcome of these proceedings and with full respect for the principles of sovereignty and judicial independence, I call on the governing majority to uphold political pluralism and preserve the space for political opposition,” Berset said in the October 20 statement published on LinkedIn.
According to the statement, political pluralism “is essential to a healthy democracy and central to Georgia’s commitments as a member of the Council of Europe,” and Georgia is “bound to guarantee freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and association” as a party to the European Convention on Human Rights.
“These rights enable different political forces to organise, express their views and compete in elections. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights requires particularly compelling justification for dissolving a political party, subject to strict requirements of necessity and proportionality. These are fundamental standards of the common European legal space to which Georgia belongs,” Berset said.
The statement says that the ruling majority “has a particular responsibility to safeguard these conditions and respect the legitimate role of political opposition, both within and outside Parliament,” adding that a governing party “that seeks to remove democratic checks on its power weakens the very country it seeks to serve.”
“These proceedings take place against a backdrop of growing restrictions on civil society, independent media and freedom of peaceful assembly. Taken together, these developments risk undermining the checks and balances essential to democratic governance in Georgia,” the CoE secretary general noted.
According to Berset, the CoE will “closely follow developments and continue its dialogue with Georgia to uphold the Convention and support Georgia in fulfilling its obligations, preserving political pluralism and protecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of all its citizens.”
The seven-judge plenum of the Georgian Constitutional Court will begin hearing the ruling Georgian Dream party’s lawsuit, which targets five opposition parties, on October 21 in Batumi, the coastal city where the court is based. Among the opposition parties Georgian Dream seeks to outlaw are United National Movement (UNM), Lelo/Strong Georgia, Ahali/Coalition for Change, Federalists, and For Georgia.
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