'Georgian Dream is trying to disrupt public control over government activities', NGOs release joint statement
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, August 26, 2022
The joint statement released by 20 non-governmental organizations reads that "the aggressive campaign carried out by the Georgian Dream against local NGOs has reached an alarming level". According to them, "Georgian Dream's attack on civil organizations has the goal of disconnecting public control over the activities of the government, which is another clear manifestation of authoritarianism and indicates the irreversible course of its formation."
"After the Georgian Dream blocked the participation of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) in the working group created by it on the fulfillment of the 12 points determined for Georgia to receive the status of a candidate for EU membership, which was followed by the suspension of work in the groups by other non-governmental organizations, the ruling party attacked the civil sector.
The attack by the chairman of the Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze , on the competence and integrity of non-governmental organizations, their classification and the creation of a black list of non-governmental organizations unacceptable to the government due to the position taken on the issue of European integration, which is the most important for the national interests of the country, is nothing but an attempt by the Georgian Dream to neutralize public control over the activities of the government and in a way, to facilitate activities with their own agenda.
It is noteworthy that the ruling party attacks those individuals and organizations that actively monitor the activities of the government, criticize the existing dangerous policies, call on the government to review its agenda and to start taking real steps towards the development of the country.
We believe that the Georgian Dream is thinking about the outcome, however, with similar rhetoric and steps, it is deliberately trying to break all the levers that Georgia needs for its democratic development. Such decisions and statements are the cause of what makes the future of democratic development of Georgia unclear every day, both in the eyes of the national and international community, which is fully the responsibility of the Georgian Dream" the statement reads.
