Georgian Foreign Minister stresses importance of objective assessment of ongoing domestic processes, protection of democratic institutions

At a joint press conference with the OSCE Chairperson and Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, the Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili on Tuesday stressed the need for objective assessments of Georgia’s political processes, urging that attacks on democratic institutions like the Parliament and Presidency be acknowledged and addressed to uphold the will of the voters.

In her remarks, Botchorishvili noted that in a democratic state, it was unacceptable to turn a blind eye to attacks on democratic institutions, emphasising that people, citizens, and voters - those who make choices - play a decisive role in democracy.

“When assessing processes in the country, it is very important that these processes are evaluated objectively. When we talk about the necessity of strengthening democratic institutions, we must not overlook the attacks being carried out on the functioning of democratic institutions, such as the Parliament, the institution of the President, and all those institutions in which civil society participates when they go to elections by their own decision and choose the Government”, the FM said.

She highlighted the critical role of citizens’ choices in elections and the obligation to protect and respect democratically elected bodies, asserting that overlooking attacks on these institutions undermines the rule of law in a democratic state.

“I completely agree with my counterpart that in a democratic state, the people, citizens, and voters who make choices are of decisive importance. Everyone is obliged to protect their choices and respect the democratic institutions that are elected as a result of those choices”, the official noted.

“In the context of this respect, there should also be a clearly defined position that it is not normal for a democratic state to ignore attacks on democratic institutions. The rule of law in a democratic state is equal for everyone, regardless of who the subject is in this case”, the Georgian Minister concluded.