The Council of Europe (CoE) Congress of Local and Regional Authorities welcomed the Georgian Parliament’s ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, but also expressed concern over the weakness of local authorities in Georgia, reads a CoE press release issued on November.
Georgian Parliament ratified the Charter on October 26; hence, Georgia has met one of its commitments undertaken while joining the Council of Europe (CoE) in 1999.
The Georgian authorities signed the abovementioned Charter in May 2002, which resulted in lawmakers being entrusted to choose no less than 20 provisions of the Charter and ratify them.
Georgia rejected to ratify article 5 of the Charter, which concerns administrative-territorial boundaries. ?Changes in local authority boundaries shall not be made without prior consultation of the local communities concerned, possibly by means of a referendum where this is permitted by statute,? the 5th article of the Charter reads.
?Meeting for its autumn session, the [CoE] Congress [of Local and Regional Authorities] said ratification was an important step towards strengthened local democracy in the country and indicated clearly that Georgia was willing to honor its commitments and obligations to the Council of Europe,? the press release reads.
?It [the Congress] called for Georgia to quickly bring its laws in line with the Charter, filling in serious gaps.?
The report, presented to the Congress by the members of the fact-finding mission, who paid three visits to Georgia in 2003 and 2004, reveals serious shortcomings in local and regional democracy, especially in local governments? powers and responsibilities, local property and finance in Georgia.
The report also voices concern over ?the weakness of local authorities at national level. It stresses the need for mayors to be elected ? especially in the capital.?