Georgia’s ruling party official accuses Venice Commission of being politicised

Levan Machavariani, the First Deputy Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream parliamentary faction, on Wednesday criticised the Venice Commission, accusing it of being politicised and arguing that it assesses issues through a political rather than a legal lens.

Machavariani made the remarks while commenting on the commission’s opinion, accusing it of interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs and questioning its approach to evaluating Georgian legislation.

He recalled the commission’s previous position on Georgia’s Constitution, saying it had called on the country to remove the provision defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

“Regarding the Venice Commission, I can remind the public how aggressively it began interfering in our affairs years ago, calling on us to remove from the Constitution the article stating that the family is a union between a man and a woman. This was where its political activity began, instead of providing legal assessments”, he said.

Machavariani also criticised the Commission’s assessment of Georgia’s transparency law, arguing that it had opposed requiring non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to ensure transparency without adequately explaining its position.

“We remember its arrogant assessment of the Georgian transparency law, claiming that NGOs should not be required to ensure transparency, without offering any explanation. In general, this institution is politicised, which is very regrettable, instead of assessing issues from a legal perspective”, Machavariani concluded.