Participation in local elections, when there are 60 or more political prisoners in the country, is somewhat surprising and even incomprehensible to me – Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, stated this during a briefing.

She also noted that since the 2024 parliamentary elections, the Central Election Commission (CEC) has not changed, while the legal framework, media environment, and political climate have worsened, and political leaders remain in prison.

"Announcing and participating in local elections, when the country has 60 or more political prisoners, is somewhat surprising and, to me, even incomprehensible. Every day we see what is happening in the courts – no one can have any trust in them. A judiciary like this is incapable of fairly ruling on any election-related disputes for any party. If someone believes otherwise, we must at least talk about naivety.

The media is an essential component of elections in any democratic country. Here, not only is the space for media operations gradually shrinking, but the situation is worsening every day. A complaint has been submitted to the regulatory commission, which essentially introduces new censorship and significantly restricts freedom of expression – something I have not seen elsewhere – and this may later result in fines or suspension of licenses.

Freedom of assembly practically does not exist. Someone tell me where the public spaces are – even in Tbilisi, it’s hard to find any. Walking down Rustaveli Avenue has become quite an expensive activity.

In terms of legislation, the amendments to the Electoral Code not only fail to prevent fraud, as was seen in previous elections, but actually worsen the situation. The CEC remains the same. Observer rights have been further limited. It’s also important to note that international observers rarely come to monitor local elections. Obviously, the diaspora does not participate in local elections.

Under these conditions, if someone still hopes that participation in the local elections will achieve anything, I just don’t see it, I don’t understand it – maybe there’s something I don’t know. I don’t see how this could lead to victory rather than disappointment among the public that has been fighting for so many months, among those people who are in prison.

How can one take part in elections while political leaders are in jail? How can we talk about free elections under such circumstances?" – stated Salome Zurabishvili.