On October 4, 2025, regular municipal elections are scheduled to be held in Georgia. Transparency International Georgia has observed almost every election in the country and, in October 2024, deployed an unprecedentedly large monitoring mission for the parliamentary elections. The upcoming municipal elections will mark the first time in the organization’s 25-year history that we will be unable to conduct observation.

The primary reason is the repressive environment created for Georgian civil society by the ruling Georgian Dream government. Recently adopted laws have rendered the functioning of Georgian NGOs nearly impossible, subjecting them to the threat of heavy fines, criminal prosecution, and harassment. Transparency International Georgia is currently under dual scrutiny by the Anti-Corruption Bureau established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, while our Executive Director has been summoned for questioning in connection with the so-called “face masks case.” This creates a serious risk of politically motivated criminal charges carrying allegations of grave offenses.

Civil society organizations in Georgia are also the constant target of disinformation campaigns orchestrated by pro-government media. Their members face threats, intimidation, and direct attacks, including verbal assaults from high-ranking officials. In such conditions, independent election observers would be left entirely vulnerable to attacks and provocations from Georgian Dream’s hired enforcers, as well as to fabricated charges from a law enforcement system under the ruling party’s control.

For an election to be assessed as fair and free, it is important to uphold the nine principles stipulated by the OSCE Copenhagen Document (1990). These principles entail: holding periodic free elections based on universal and equal suffrage, a secret ballot, and a fair, public count of the results; the right of citizens to hold office and to form parties or participate in elections on an equal basis before the law; and a free pre-election campaign that is protected from administrative interference, intimidation, and a discriminatory media environment, ensuring that elected candidates can subsequently take office without impediment. To uphold these principles, the document emphasizes the vital role of domestic and international observers.

In the Georgian context, the freedom of civil society, observer organizations, and the media environment plays a crucial role in protecting the aforementioned principles. The discrediting of potential political competitors and the imprisonment of opposition party members are not characteristic of free elections. The current environment, created by "Georgian Dream" through the capture of state institutions, is one in which holding a free, fair, and competitive election is impossible. By observing these elections, we will not and cannot create the illusion of a free and fair election.

For these reasons, Transparency International Georgia considers it impossible to observe the October 4, 2025 local elections.