On October 1, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze urged the Anti-Corruption Bureau to reverse its decision to label Transparency International-Georgia (TI-Georgia) as an organization with declared electoral objectives.

The Prime Minister argued that granting such legal status to civil society organizations (CSOs) would only encourage external manipulation. He claimed that TI-Georgia’s electoral goals and radical and polarizing political agenda" have long been evident, providing the public with sufficient information to draw the appropriate conclusions. He emphasized that TI-Georgia’s role in conducting an open canvassing-propaganda campaign against the ruling party" is obvious to any "objective observer.

Kobakhidze defended the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s decision as "legally correct" and aligned with the Law on Citizens’ Political Association. He pointed out that the Court had supported the decision, stating it was "justified with the highest standard of infallibility." However, in the interest of the state and to prevent "external interference" in the electoral process, Kobakhidze urged the withdrawal of TI-Georgia’s status, as well as that of any other organization listed by the Bureau. He noted that TI-Georgia was the only organization to oppose the Bureau’s ruling.

The Prime Minister explained that the organization has been pursuing a "politically radical and manipulative" agenda for several years. He cited alleged errors in the parallel vote count during the 2020 elections, calls by CSOs for the government's resignation, and creating a "technical government" in 2022. He also accused TI-Georgia of aiming to return the former United National Movement government to power.

Kobakhidze stated that TI-Georgia’s behavior was well known to the public, who didn’t need any legal status to exercise caution. He further noted that if the Anti-Corruption Bureau acted strictly based on legal criteria, many other larger organizations would also need to be classified as having electoral objectives, which could be exploited for external interference.

In conclusion, the Prime Minister called on the Bureau to reconsider its TI-Georgia decision and avoid making similar decisions about other entities before the parliamentary elections. He acknowledged that foreign-funded organizations involved in electoral canvassing violated the Constitution of Georgia and principles of state sovereignty but downplayed the impact, suggesting that the damaged reputation of TI-Georgia and other organizations would not influence the outcome of the October 26 elections.