Archil Gorduladze, a lawmaker from the ruling Georgian Dream party, addressed the Constitutional Court of Georgia, which is currently reviewing a lawsuit seeking to outlaw five opposition parties. During the hearing, the plaintiff’s representative detailed a list of specific accusations brought by the authorities against pro-Western political forces.
Gorduladze argued, among other points, that the ban should also apply to parties formed after 2012. According to Georgian Dream, by entering into coalitions with the United National Movement (UNM) and refusing to explicitly denounce the past regime’s crimes, newly established opposition forces create a risk of recurring systemic violations.
The ruling party maintains that Article 23 of the Georgian Constitution establishes legal grounds for banning these political associations as an “existential threat to statehood.”
Georgian Dream’s allegations against the opposition:
- United National Movement, the Coalition for Change (including Girchi – More Freedom and Droa!), and the Federalists: The plaintiffs accuse them of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, refusing to condemn systemic human rights abuses committed between 2004 and 2012, rejecting the legitimacy of the current government, undermining the country’s territorial integrity, and attempting to drag Georgia into an armed conflict with Russia.
- Strong Georgia – Lelo (the Khazaradze–Japaridze bloc): The party is accused of rejecting the legitimacy of the government, supporting the proposal to establish a “technical government” in 2022, and backing protests aimed at toppling the authorities between 2019 and 2025.
- For Georgia (led by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia): The party is accused of failing to distance itself from the violent dispersal of protesters on June 20, 2019, and the arrest of Nika Melia in 2021, aiding “external forces,” and supporting the establishment of a police post in the village of Chorchana, which Georgian Dream claims damaged the nation’s territorial integrity.