We have this situation, which I also encountered when I entered politics, and I am concerned about that, unfortunately, some representatives of the diplomatic corps, or the diplomatic corps in general, participate too much in the internal political discussions of the country, - said the Chairman of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, thus responding to the meeting between the Prime Minister and the ambassadors yesterday.
According to him, often when discussing certain issues behind closed doors, representatives of the diplomatic corps do not use counterarguments and even agree on some issues, but then publicly state a different position. Therefore, Papuashvili believes that if there is a desire on their part to participate in the Georgian political discussion, it should be done publicly.
"The Prime Minister, you know, had a written statement, and you know that I joined his initiative - we have this situation, which also happened to me when I entered politics, which I am worried about, that unfortunately, some representatives of the diplomatic corps, or in general the diplomatic corps is excessively involved in the domestic political discussions of the country. This is somewhat understandable - we are not cut off from the world, especially when we talk about integration with Europe, we are not a separate island and, of course, it is always important to give advice. But the participation of ambassadors in political debates, in the consideration of a bill has one risk - the moment you are a direct participant in a debate or discussion, by definition you become biased towards some opinion, because you form an opinion and then try to defend it. In the end, this damages the diplomatic missions themselves, since there are different opinions about the positions in the society, and the one who is against the diplomatic mission has negative ideas first of all towards the diplomatic representative, which is then spread to the country he represents. That is why it is written in the Vienna Convention that there should be no participation in internal affairs. This is not only a matter of sovereignty, but also important for the protection of the diplomatic corps itself. There is a second vice to such involvement of diplomats - it is often behind closed doors, which is understandable and happens, and is part of our relationship with our partners. But the main surprise is the following thing, when we don't hear any counterarguments during discussions on certain issues behind closed doors, and on the contrary, sometimes there is agreement on some issues, but then during public commenting, other positions are heard. This is certainly not correct. Therefore, if there is a desire to participate in Georgian domestic political discussions and consideration of draft laws, it should be public and the population will see what arguments there are," Papuashvili said.
