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Georgia's Top Court Hears Case to Ban Major Opposition Parties
Confirmed
In Short: The Constitutional Court in Georgia began hearings Wednesday on a lawsuit by the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five major opposition parties, a move critics say would effectively eliminate political competition.
The Constitutional Court in Georgia began hearings Wednesday on a lawsuit by the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five major opposition parties, a move critics say would effectively eliminate political competition.
Four of the five targeted parties collectively won about 38 percent of the vote and secured seats in the 2024 parliamentary election, according to official results.
Opposition leaders reject the accusations, saying the lawsuit is politically motivated and that Georgian Dream is using the courts to remove its main competitors before the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2028.
The lawsuit claims these parties aim to overthrow the constitutional order, and the opposition's refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the elected parliament is central to the case.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze defended the lawsuit Tuesday, arguing that electoral support should not determine whether a party is allowed to operate and described Georgian opposition as “liberal fascists.”
Critics say some of the laws were modeled on legislation in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has harshly stifled dissent.
Protesters gathered outside the courthouse in the Black Sea city of Batumi as the seven-judge panel took up the case against the country’s main pro-Western opposition groups: the United National Movement, Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia–Lelo, the Federalists, and Gakharia for Georgia.
Ana Buchukuri of Gakharia for Georgia said the move would mean “that any critical voice, any dissent will be deemed unconstitutional, period.”
Sandro Baramidze, who manages Transparency International Georgia’s human rights and rule of law program, said the lawsuit failed to establish constitutional grounds for banning any of the parties.
The Constitution allows political parties to be banned for a handful of reasons, including plotting a violent coup or fomenting hatred or hostilities, but none of these grounds are present in this particular case, Baramidze said.
Pauline Lewis, 65, an alien residing in Dawsonville, Georgia, was arrested on a criminal complaint accusing her of voting as a non-citizen in federal elections.
What this adds
The arrest of Pauline Lewis is unrelated to the lawsuit against the opposition parties but highlights the broader context of voter integrity and legal challenges in Georgia.
What's confirmed
- BATUMI: The Constitutional Court in the South Caucasus nation of Georgia began hearings Wednesday on a lawsuit by the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five major opposition parties, a move critics say would effectively eliminate political competition.
- It would mean “that any critical voice, any dissent will be deemed unconstitutional, period,” said Ana Buchukuri of Gakharia for Georgia.
- The lawsuit is the latest step in the unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has engulfed Georgia in recent years in response to mass protests that erupted after the government halted talks on joining the European Union.
- “It’s not only banning political parties,” said Irakli Pavlenishvili, deputy chairman of the United National Movement.
- Demonstrators carry a Georgian national flag during a rally despite the harsh crackdown on dissent and tightened rules on public assemblies in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct.
- Opposition leaders reject the accusations, saying the lawsuit is politically motivated.
- Georgian Dream has responded with arrests and laws targeting dissent.
- The lawsuit claims these parties aim to overthrow the constitutional order.
- Parties, rights advocates decry the lawsuit as politically motivated Zurab Girchi Japaridze, a leader of Coalition for Change, said the goal was to prevent opposition politicians from challenging Georgian Dream in 2028.
- Sandro Baramidze, who manages Transparency International Georgia’s human rights and rule of law program, said the lawsuit failed to establish constitutional grounds for banning any of the parties.
- “It is the end of democracy for Georgia.” Central to the lawsuit is the opposition’s refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the elected parliament, which the plaintiffs describe as part of a campaign of sabotage.
- “What matters is the policies political parties pursue and whether they are inherently unconstitutional,” Kobakhidze said.
What's still developing
- According to the Justice Department, the wider operation resulted in charges against 16 individuals across Texas, Idaho, Georgia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Michigan.