Georgia’s ruling party will ask the Constitutional Court to outlaw the three largest opposition parties, which are all strongly pro-Western, a senior member of the ruling Georgian Dream party said on October 28.
Shalva Papuashvili said the parties “practically continuously deny both the domestic-political and foreign-political legitimacy of the current government and the ruling political party of Georgia and, accordingly, its constitutionality.”
The three parties — Coalition for Change, United National Movement, and the Strong Georgia-Lelo bloc — pose “a real threat to the constitutional order,” Papuashvili said.
“Our lawsuit presents evidence that these political parties are driven by unconstitutional goals,” Papuashvili said.
Papuashvili said the decision was also taken based on the size and influence of the three parties. He noted that smaller allied groups were not included, but that could change.
“Their potential unconstitutionality could be examined later if they gain significant influence over the political process,” Papuashvili said.
Irakli Kupradze, a senior member of Strong Georgia, was cited by local media as calling the lawsuit “a decisive blow to democracy” and vowing to resist it.
Georgia, an EU candidate nation, has seen its relationship with the bloc deteriorate since Tbilisi adopted anti-LGBT legislation and a so-called foreign agent law last year.
The relationship eroded further after parliamentary elections in October 2024 in which the Georgian Dream party held on to power and then decided to halt EU accession talks while adopting what many — including Brussels — see as Russia-friendly policies.
Demonstrations have taken place daily in Tbilisi since the elections and intensified after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the suspension of accession talks.
Several senior Georgian opposition figures have been jailed, while police have ramped up the arrest of protesters at the antigovernment demonstrations.
Georgian Dream says it still wants to join the European Union, but only if it can preserve what it says are Georgia’s traditional Orthodox Christian values as well as peaceful ties with Russia.
Georgian Dream figures, including Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire former prime minister, have repeatedly vowed to ban the opposition parties for what they say are their links to former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is serving a prison term for offences including abuse of power. He is expected to remain in jail until 2034.
Two of the three opposition parties facing a ban have been critical of Saakashvili, who led Georgia as a pro-Western reformer from 2003 to 2012. Saakashvili, a divisive figure in Georgia, is celebrated by some in Georgia and criticized by others who see him as erratic, authoritarian, and the author of a short war with Russia in 2008.
