Statements

We respond to the statement made by the Mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze, on December 1, 2024, regarding the initiation of a reorganization process within the municipal administration. 

The Mayor's announcement of the reorganization process was preceded by a statement from a portion of municipal employees concerning the ruling Georgian Dream party’s suspension of the European Union accession process. Municipal employees explicitly and unequivocally distanced themselves from the decision to postpone Georgia's EU accession process until 2028. The aforementioned statement asserts that the Georgian Dream party's decision is incongruent with the publicly articulated national objectives and the fundamental essence of Article 78 of the Constitution. Moreover, to demonstrate support for the country's European integration process, statements were disseminated by hundreds of employees from various ministries and budgetary institutions. According to disseminated information, after the release of these statements, pressure was exerted on public servants who publicly condemned the statements regarding the change in the state's trajectory. 

In accordance with Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, the constitutional bodies shall take all measures within the scope of their competencies to ensure the full integration of Georgia into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This constitutional norm, inter alia, imposes an obligation on public servants to take proactive steps to facilitate Georgia's European integration process. Any public servant's effort, including statements aimed at implementing Article 78 of the Constitution, should not become grounds for restricting freedom of expression or persecution based on political views. 

Coercion of a person into writing a resignation application on his/her own initiative constitutes a criminal offense under Article 169 of the Georgian Criminal Code. 

It is noteworthy that the announced reorganization of the municipal administration may be utilized as an instrument against public servants who express their position regarding the country's European future and distance themselves from the decisions made by Georgian Dream contravening the constitutional order. 

We believe that any structural modifications planned within the municipal administration should be implemented with transparency, full legal compliance, and in strict accordance with public servants' labor rights and the fundamental principles of reorganization. 

We call upon the relevant agencies to operate within the constitutional framework and ensure comprehensive protection of public officials' rights. It is inadmissible to persecute public servants or exert pressure on them due to differing political views. 

We, the signatory organizations, express our readiness to provide free legal aid to public servants who have been discriminated against, dismissed unlawfully, or on political grounds.

 

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International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)

Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA)

Transparency International Georgia (TIG)