Georgian Parliament Speaker claims OSCE PA President recognizes legitimacy of controversial elections

Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday claimed that Pia Kauma, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, had acknowledged the legitimacy of the 2024 parliamentary elections and its results, despite ongoing controversies surrounding the vote.

Papuashvili made the remarks following a recent meeting with Kauma, who had led the OSCE observation mission during the elections.

The Speaker expressed gratitude for the OSCE/ODIHR’s role in monitoring the elections and providing a “comprehensive assessment”. He also emphasized that the OSCE’s findings “should serve as a clear and respected framework” for evaluating the election results. However, Papuashvili criticized efforts by “certain political groups to dismiss the OSCE/ODIHR report”, which he claimed had “affirmed the validity of the election results”.

Papuashvili also highlighted the importance of ongoing cooperation with the OSCE, particularly in implementing legislative changes aimed at improving future elections. He assured that efforts were being made to ensure that local elections in October were conducted more efficiently, both technically and in terms of the electoral environment.

Furthermore, Papuashvili accused those defending organizations like ISFED, Transparency International, IRI, and USAID of “attempting to undermine the legitimacy” of the elections. He suggested that the groups, which “had been criticized by the current US administration for bias and fraudulent activities”, were part of a wider campaign against Georgia’s elected government.