The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe issued a written declaration signed by PACE members, expressing alarm at the Georgian Dream’s apparent preparations to steal the 26 October parliamentary elections.

“We, the undersigned, declare the following:

There are alarming reports coming from Georgia which seem to indicate that the ruling party is preparing to steal the upcoming parliamentary elections.

These include a massive intimidation campaign against opposition candidates and their supporters, whose premises are looted and whose families are threatened with apparent impunity. There have also been physical attacks against opposition activists.

Voters are also being intimidated by disseminating false information putting into question the secrecy of the vote – “the government will know how you voted and there will be consequences”.

Many national election observation groups are being prevented from doing their jobs by abusing anti-corruption legislation even before the so-called “foreign agents law” enters into force.

Finally, it appears that the Central Election Commission has recently been brought under the control of the ruling party.

Such actions have created a pre-electoral environment in which it is very difficult to hold free and fair elections. In order to achieve international recognition of the election result, the authorities should stop acting in an anti-democratic way and reverse course. The role of the international election observers, including the Parliamentary Assembly’s, is therefore crucial to allow the people of Georgia to determine their future freely”, - reads the document.

It should be mentioned that MEP Eeric Kross’s critical statement about Georgia was signed by only 24 out of 612 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.