According to NGOs, citizens are mobilized for the December 14 rally by exerting pressure on them by municipal officials.

NGOs allege there is an active mobilization of citizens by the ruling party in almost all municipalities of Georgia, which is mainly coordinated by the Georgian Dream party offices.

“On December 14, the ruling Georgian Dream party plans to organize a large-scale rally in Tbilisi as part of a party event, which according to them is related to summarizing the festive week over Georgia’s chairmanship in the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers.

We have learned that in several municipalities, in addition to party coordinators, representatives of mayors and city councils are actively involved in the mobilization of citizens. Specifically, similar incidents occurred in Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Zugdidi, Poti, Khobi, Martvili, Ozurgeti, Chokhatauri, Kobuleti, Batumi, Khelvachauri, Akhaltsikhe, Gori, Khashuri and in almost all municipalities of Kakheti.

Representatives of the municipality go to public schools and kindergartens and tell teachers and other staff to attend the event to be organized by the government. The above is done in the form a request or a task. In some municipalities, public servants are required to submit lists of 10 or 20 persons attending the rally, indicating their name, surname and personal number.

In addition to public servants, socially vulnerable citizens were also warned about participation in the rally in Zugdidi and Chokhatauri municipalities.

The NGOs call on the ruling party and local government officials to prevent any form of coercion of public servants and socially vulnerable citizens”, reads the statement signed by: International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Transparency International - Georgia (TI), Georgian Democratic Initiative (GDI), Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF).