A delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CoE) will visit Georgia on 24–25 September to assess the impact of the current political climate on local governance, the CoE announced in a press release.
The mission comes just days before Georgia’s local elections, scheduled for 4 October. The delegation will focus on how the ongoing political situation affects local authorities and the democratic environment in which the elections will take place.
The delegation will include Bernd Vöhringer (Germany, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, and Stewart Dickson (United Kingdom, ILDG), the Congress Spokesperson on the Observation of Local and Regional Elections, accompanied by election expert Prof. Tania Groppi.
During their two-day visit, the representatives will meet with the Chair of the Central Election Commission, the First Deputy Public Defender, and the First Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Regional Policy and Self-Government. They will also hold discussions with Georgia’s national delegation to the Congress, the National Association of Local Authorities, as well as representatives of political parties, NGOs, and the media.
The CoE emphasized that the visit “should not be considered as political support for the legitimacy or the views of the interlocutors met.”
