The head of the non-governmental organization International Society for Fair Elections And Democracy (ISFED), Nino Dolidze, said that the ruling Georgian Dream party decision not to invite the ISFED to the parliamentary working group on electoral issues for Georgia’s EU candidacy was a restriction and persecution of the civil organization's rights due to its critical position.

"We really have the expertise that will help the country to implement the electoral reform, although the ruling party decided not to have us in this group, which is inexplicable to us. This is a limitation of the right of civil organization and persecution because our organization is often critical.

We want Georgia to be a democratic state and take steps towards European integration. We will continue to fight for it. But the process is harmed by the fact that a professional organization did not get into the working group because it has a different opinion. We believe that this damages the process and European integration.

It's unfortunate because despite the difference of opinion, we think it's important to sit down together and talk about what needs to be done. We believe that the working group was not created for full-fledged work on reforms, it was actually created in order to delay the process. ISFED has never been on the side of one political party. We are on the side of the truth. If some party breaks the law, we will talk about it", Dolidze said.

"Georgian Dream" has not invited the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) to participate in the working group on the revision of the Electoral Code.

ISFED is a public organization which main profile is elections issues.

However, according to Givi Mikanadze, the head of the working group on the revision of the electoral code, who is also the first deputy chairman of the Georgian Dream party, ISFED is not a neutral organization, since at rallies in June, its representatives demanded the resignation of the government.

It should be noted that ISFED, along with the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA), the Eastern Partnership Platform has submitted to Parliament to work in the above-mentioned working group.

According to the parliament's decision, member organizations of the Eastern Partnership platform will be included in the groups created to implement the EU's recommendations.

"Non-governmental organizations can be involved in this process only if they remain neutral. ISFED lost this neutrality when, during a rally in front of parliament, they joined the demand for the resignation of the government and the Prime Minister and the formation of a technical government.

Therefore, we cannot speak about their neutrality and this is the reason why they have not been invited to the working group", Mikanadze said.

Meanwhile, Julien Kramps, acting head of the EU mission in Georgia, who was present at the parliament, said in a statement to the media that the process of implementing the EU recommendations should be inclusive and representatives of the non-governmental sector should be involved in this process.

apsny.ge