During his talks with Georgia’s top leaders on February 18-19 Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer emphasized the importance of carrying out all the reforms needed in the country in a framework of respect for rule of law and human rights.
“If the presumed side-slips reported to me are confirmed, they are unacceptable,” he said.
As the CoE Information Office in Georgia reports, Walter Schwimmer expressed the hope that the March 28 parliamentary elections would comply with the European standards especially concerning the drawing up of the lists of voters, the confidentiality of the ballot, and the balanced composition of the electoral commissions.
“I hope the pre-election campaign will qualify to be called fair,” the Secretary General emphasized.
The CoE Secretary General Schwimmer restated the readiness of the Council of Europe to help Georgia carry out certain reforms, stressing that a good hundred assistance and co-operation activities were already confirmed for 2004 and that other types of assistance could be envisaged.
Walter Schwimmer emphasized how important it was for the country to have an opposition “in Parliament and not only in the street.”
Today the threshold for admission to Parliament stipulates 7 % of the votes, as Schwimmer recalled, whereas 4 or 5 % corresponds to the European averages.
Lowering this threshold would give the opposition more of a chance to have elected members, he pointed out, adding that the Parliamentary Assembly had already advocated this.
During various talks, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe also addressed the issue of freedom of expression and information as well as the role of the independent media.