OSCE PA President's view aligns with OSCE/ODIHR report - Georgian elections held, Gov't elected, Parliament Speaker says

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday highlighted the importance of international validation of Georgia’s electoral process following a meeting with Pia Kauma, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

In his remarks, Papuashvili noted the conversation focused on developments following the 2024 parliamentary elections.

“I had the opportunity to meet with the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, who, as the public knows, was the head of the OSCE observation mission for the 2024 parliamentary elections. I once again thanked her for the work done by the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission, both in terms of election monitoring and assessment”, Papuashvili said.

“It is important that everyone respects the OSCE/ODIHR report regarding the elections. Before the elections, we were told that this report would serve as the key reference for evaluating the elections. However, it later turned out that many are now trying to ignore the OSCE/ODIHR report, which clearly validates the results of the parliamentary elections”, he continued.

Papuashvili also informed Kauma about the steps being taken to improve the upcoming 2025 municipal elections, including legislative reforms, enhanced technical procedures and ongoing work by the Central Election Commission.

He emphasised that Kauma’s position was consistent with the October 27 public statement by the observation mission, which validated the elections.

“Her position is in line with the conclusions reflected in the OSCE/ODIHR report, and what she and the entire mission stated the day after the elections - on October 27, when they declared that the parliamentary elections were held, and Georgia has a duly elected Government”, Papuashvili noted.

The Speaker once again criticised opposition-aligned actors and NGOs, accusing them of disregarding the OSCE report in favour of narratives from groups such as ISFED, Transparency International, IRI, and USAID.

Papuashvili concluded by claiming that the same groups that previously supported the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and promoted “destabilising” agenda are now working to delegitimize the electoral outcome, despite international validation from the OSCE.