Opposition leaders voiced their concerns regarding the upcoming presidential election at a meeting with Matyas Eorsi, a co-rapporteur from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), on December 6.

New Rights leader and presidential hopeful Davit Gamkrelidze left the meeting in protest, later commenting to journalists that the PACE monitor “should have said that the authoritarian regime [in Georgia] was not established today, but much earlier,” according to the news source Civil.ge.

“This is a much-politicized society, and the politicians are very emotional,” Eorsi—a Hungarian MP who arrived in Georgia on Wednesday morning to monitor conditions during the run-up to the snap presidential elections on January 5—declared in a statement after the session.

Some of the candidates wanted him to step into Georgia’s “internal problems,” he continued, but emphasized that his role is meant to be that of a neutral observer.

Labor leader Shalva Natelashvili steered clear of the meeting, accusing Eorsi of bias, and sent two of his representatives to confront the PACE official with Labor’s claims.

According to Labor member Nestan Kirtadze, the PACE representative chastised opposition politicians for predicting a rigged election ahead of the actual polling, and told them they should be focusing on the election rather than its aftermath.

On December 5, the Labor Party organised an anti-vote-rigging ‘warning’ rally in support of free and fair elections. The previous day, Natelashvili accused the ruling majority contender of setting aside GEL 1 million for the purpose of vote-rigging and election fraud.

"The meeting was a complicated one, as Eorsi had to answer our party’s well-grounded allegations,” Kirtadze stated, adding that she had pressed Eorsi to pay attention to which candidates appeared to be ahead in the polls in the run-up to polling day.

Meanwhile, Future party leader and presidential hopeful Gia Maisashvili said he called on the PACE representative to help arrange policy debates between the presidential contenders.

“I asked Eorsi for debates on...things such as the economy, education and foreign policy, and he promised me he would [arrange debates], because he knows only too well they are an essential part of election campaigns,” Maisashvili told journalists after the meeting. Yesterday evening, it emerged that the Public Broadcast Service will televise debates between presidential contenders twice a week, starting today, December 7.

Levan Gachechiladze, the joint presidential candidate of the nine-party opposition coalition, said he spoke to Eorsi about the unfairness of the country’s election law and allegations of political violence and persecution.

Over the past two weeks, opposition candidates as well as the ruling party have complained of instances of political intimidation. “I asked Eorsi to react to these issues before the election and not after it,” Gachechiladze said.

In his statement, the co-rapporteur reiterated that he would maintain a neutral position throughout the election.

“I have no interest in who wins and who loses the elections,” Eorsi said in a statement after the meeting. “Our main responsibility is to [ensure] that fair and democratic elections are held.”

The PACE representative will conclude his visit with a press conference on Friday.