Georgian Parliament Speaker: Council of Europe involvement in violating Georgian law would be major scandal

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said on Tuesday that it would constitute a major scandal if the Council of Europe were found to have violated Georgian legislation in connection with funding for a seminar held in the mountain resort of Bakhmaro.

Papuashvili made the remarks while commenting on an educational seminar organised by Armaz Akhvlediani, Head of the Tbilisi School of Political Studies, which was reportedly supported by the Council of Europe.

“This matter has two dimensions. First, there is the question of whether the law was violated, and the State Audit Office will provide an answer to that. It would be a major scandal if it turns out that the Council of Europe was involved in violating legislation in one of its member states. Let us see what conclusion the Audit Office reaches. However, this matter also has a second dimension, which may be even more scandalous”, he said.

The Speaker questioned whether support for a seminar linked to Akhvlediani could legitimately be presented as a contribution to civil dialogue.

“I do not think it needs to be proven that Armaz Akhvlediani is a prominent radical politician. In 2020, in the previous parliament, he was elected as a member of parliament from the party list of a faction within the United National Movement. He did not recognise the 2020 election results, and it took him months to enter Parliament and respect the choice made by Georgian citizens. Later, in the 2024 elections, he was again included on the United National Movement’s party list. He was subsequently removed from that list by a joint decision of the party. He was also among the first to call on people on October 26 to reject the election results and pursue radicalisation”, Papuashvili said.

He referred to Akhvlediani’s participation in parliamentary elections on the United National Movement’s party list and his rejection of the 2020 election results.

“When a person participates in parliamentary elections on the party list of Saakashvili’s party and later rejects that choice, funding such an individual under the pretext that it contributes to civil dialogue is either self-deception on the part of the Council of Europe or an attempt to mislead the Georgian people. The Council of Europe can decide which of these two explanations is correct. There is no third explanation, because no one can credibly argue that financing a radical politician contributes to civil dialogue. It is unfortunate that we are witnessing such developments”, he concluded.

Georgia’s State Audit Office has launched a monitoring procedure into the matter.