Papuashvili Defends Plan to Limit Emigrant Voting to Polls Inside Georgia
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, November 24, 2025
Speaker of Georgian Dream-led Parliament Shalva Papuashvili defended a proposed change to the Election Code that would require Georgian citizens living abroad to cast their ballots only within Georgia during parliamentary elections. He said the move aims to reduce the risk of outside political influence.
"There is a risk that our citizens abroad may be used by foreign forces to advance their own political agenda," Papuashvili said while explaining the proposal. He noted that the next parliamentary elections will take place on October 28, 2028, and added that citizens "have the opportunity to come to their homeland and cast their vote."
Papuashvili argued that the 2024 election cycle showed clear attempts by foreign officials and political groups to shape Georgia's domestic politics. "We saw this in 2024 in a particularly brazen way," he said, accusing some diplomats and foreign politicians of campaigning and even joining protest rallies. He claimed that subsequent actions by certain governments and political parties confirmed "this interest will not decrease, it will become even stronger."
The Speaker also said that Georgian emigrants faced pressure from abroad. According to him, there were cases in which foreign political figures attempted to influence voters and instances where Georgians overseas were pitted against each other. He said lists of citizens living abroad were used to intimidate them with threats of deportation if they did not support particular political positions. "We saw how representatives of the diaspora were used against other Georgians," he stated.
Papuashvili compared Georgia's concerns to complaints raised in the United States and European Union about foreign meddling in their elections. "We are acting in advance to ensure that there is no harmful foreign influence from abroad," he said, adding that the objective is to protect the rights of Georgian emigrants rather than restrict them.
He also claimed that many Georgians abroad faced a hostile environment ahead of the 2024 vote. "Before the 2024 elections, a hostile environment was practically created against those voters who did not follow the position of some foreign leaders," he said, arguing that governments in countries such as the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom "did nothing to protect them."
Papuashvili said Georgia cannot be responsible for what happens under another country's jurisdiction and insisted that the measure is intended to shield emigrants from pressure. "This decision was made to protect our emigrants from pressure, while giving them every opportunity to come to their homeland once every four years and vote here," he said.
He emphasized that the election date is known well in advance, adding, "Everyone who wishes to express their political choice has the opportunity to prepare and come to their homeland on October 28, 2028, and cast their vote here."
