MP Makhashvili says legal disputes should be settled in courts, not through external pressure

Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament Levan Makhashvili said disagreements over specific laws should never be met with external pressure or encouragement of domestic unrest, during his address at the 33rd Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's General Committee on Political Affairs and Security.

Makhashvili said 34 of the 57 OSCE participating states, including the United States, did not support activating the Moscow Mechanism on Georgia, arguing that this reflected a lack of broad backing for the initiative.

He criticised the draft resolution discussed at the session, claiming it presents allegations contained in the Moscow Mechanism report as established facts. Makhashvili specifically objected to the wording of one paragraph, saying it inaccurately stated that violence had "reached the threshold of torture," despite such language not appearing in the report itself.

The committee chair also defended Georgia's legal framework, saying sovereign states have the right to adopt legislation to protect their electoral processes, political systems and socio-economic stability from foreign interference.

"If someone disagrees with a specific law, the democratic and constructive response should never be external pressure, undermining the legal framework or encouraging unrest inside the country," Makhashvili said, adding that disputes over Georgia's transparency law are already being considered by the Constitutional Court of Georgia and the European Court of Human Rights, which he described as the appropriate legal avenue.