Ana Tsitlidze, a representative of the United National Movement, addressed the Constitutional Court of Georgia on October 27, where a lawsuit filed by the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five opposition parties is currently being heard.
In her speech, she stated that the authorities’ lawsuit lacks any legal argumentation and amounts to “political rumors, myths, and manipulations.”
“What is being decided in this courtroom is where the line lies between the state’s legitimate right to initiate proceedings to defend the constitutional order and its ambition to use this process to rewrite the law, revise political history, and outlaw political opponents.”
Tsitlidze stated that she was not attempting to absolve the United National Movement of its political or legal past. On the contrary, she is ready to discuss all of the party’s historic decisions, including the most difficult ones.
Nevertheless, in her assessment, the lawsuit offers no legal arguments whatsoever to substantiate the demand to ban the parties:
“Criticism of elections and boycotts cannot serve as grounds for banning a party.”
Ana Tsitlidze emphasized that the plaintiff is portraying criticism of the authorities, protests against election results, and election boycotts as an encroachment on the constitutional order, whereas “in a multiparty democracy, evaluating electoral processes, protecting votes, and refusing to recognize fraudulent elections is the opposition’s primary right and duty to the citizens of Georgia.”
“If a critical attitude toward the government and doubts about the legitimacy of elections are to serve as grounds for banning a party, then political pluralism in Georgia has ended and a one-party dictatorship has been established,” she said.
Tsitlidze also pushed back against the lawsuit’s contention that opposition parties uniting, setting common objectives, and forming an alliance (including by refusing to recognize the legitimacy of elected bodies) constitutes sabotage carried out with a single intent.
According to her, the freedom of political association is a constitutional norm, and the Constitution of Georgia guarantees the freedom of political parties to operate, cooperate, form coalitions, and pursue common goals.
“An alternative political platform is not sabotage. If the opposition unites against authoritarian tendencies in the country and fraudulent elections, that is not an attack on the constitutional order, but the fulfillment of our duty to voters. The true objective of this lawsuit is to outlaw alternative political opinions,” she stressed.
In her address, Tsitlidze also listed individuals who had been members or supporters of the National Movement while it was in power and who now belong to Georgian Dream. According to Tsitlidze, such facts clearly demonstrate that the lawsuit lacks legal grounds and is manipulative in nature.