Banning democratic opposition will effectively establish a one-party dictatorship and be incompatible with Council of Europe membership—this is stated in a declaration by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) co-rapporteurs for Georgia, Edite Estrela and Sabina Ćudić.

The PACE co-rapporteurs for Georgia, Edite Estrela (Portugal, Socialist Party) and Sabina Ćudić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, ALDE), express deep concern over the ruling majority’s appeal to the Constitutional Court to ban three main opposition parties.

"As the Assembly emphasized in its latest resolution on the protection of democracy and the rule of law in Georgia, banning democratic opposition will effectively establish a one-party dictatorship and be incompatible with Council of Europe membership," the statement reads.

The co-rapporteurs "urge the ruling majority to reconsider the lawsuit and halt the country’s rapid democratic backsliding."

Furthermore, according to the statement, the co-rapporteurs plan to visit Georgia by the end of the year as part of a fact-finding mission.