Georgian Parliament official at OSCE PA: Georgia faces double standards over transparency law, public order measures

Georgia is being criticised for adopting the transparency law, despite similar legislation existing in the legal frameworks of many OSCE participating states, said on Tuesday Maia Bitadze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Environment Protection and Natural Resources Committee.

In her address at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Bitadze noted that following the violent attack on the presidential palace, the attempted burning of the parliament building, the throwing of Molotov cocktails at police officers, and damage to public property, Georgia strengthened its legal measures to protect state institutions and public order.

She added that some delegates attending the Assembly had visited Georgia and witnessed firsthand that these events had gone beyond peaceful protest. Nevertheless, they chose to ignore the violence that occurred on the streets of Tbilisi.

“The same measures that are applied in many participating states, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, are portrayed in Georgia as democratic backsliding. What is regarded elsewhere as democratic resilience is often described differently in our case”, the Chair said.

“Those who believe that resolutions or political campaigns determine Georgia’s future underestimate the Georgian people. Georgia remains committed to democracy, reforms, European integration and international cooperation. At the same time, we are safeguarding our sovereignty and the right of our citizens to determine their own future”, Bitadze concluded.