 Strasbourg,
26 February 2013 - A delegation of the Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities of the Council of Europe will carry out a fact-finding mission to
Georgia on 27 and 28 February 2013 to obtain information on the situation of
local and regional democracy in this country since the last elections, held in
October 2012. The delegation will examine, in particular, the allegations of
pressure put on elected representatives and local authorities which could
undermine local democracy and raise issues in the light of the European Charter
of Local Self-Government. A complaint to this effect was sent by the National
Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) to the Congress at the
beginning of February. The delegation is composed of Congress rapporteurs on
Georgia Nigel MERMAGEN (United Kingdom, ILDG) and Helena PIHLAJASAARI (Finland,
SOC), accompanied by Jean-Philippe BOZOULS, Executive Secretary of Congress’s
Chamber of Local Authorities.
The delegation
should meet with Mikheil SAAKASHVILI, President of Georgia, and will also hold
meetings with Tengiz SHERGELASHVILI, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and
Infrastructure of Georgia, and with the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on
Regional Policy, Self-Government and Mountainous regions.
Meetings are
also scheduled with George UGULAVA, the mayor of Tbilisi, as well as with the
mayors of Martvili, Abasha, Tetriskaro and Tsalka. The delegation will also
exchange views with members of the Georgian National delegation to the Congress
and representatives of the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia
(NALAG).
After a first
monitoring visit was carried out from 11 to 13 June 2012, a draft report and
recommendation on local and regional democracy in Georgia were approved by the
Monitoring Committee of the Congress on 13 February 2013. The conclusions of
this fact-finding mission will complement this text, which will be submitted to
the Congress Session for adoption in March 2013.
Contact on the
spot
Sedef CANKOÇAK
Co-Secretary of
the Monitoring Committee of the Congress
Mob.:+ 33 (0)6
50 39 29 10
For more information see: www.coe.int / www.coe.ge |
Print 
Send 
GEORGIAN 
A
political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to promote
democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops common responses to
social, cultural and legal challenges in its 47 member states.