After 12 years in power, one of the Georgian Dream party’s main pre-election messages is the threat to abolish the opposition. Days before the elections, during regional pre-election meetings, Georgian Dream representatives continue to promise their voters that they will ban the opposition if victorious. An anti-Western movement affiliated with Georgian Dream is threatening opposition supporters with prosecution.
The first statement about banning opposition parties was issued on August 20 in the name of Georgian Dream’s Political Council. In a lengthy statement, the party explains the reasons why they claim to need a constitutional majority. The first item on the list is the elimination of opponents from the political field. “First of all […] we will initiate a legal process that will declare the United National Movement and all its satellite or successor parties unconstitutional,” the statement reads.
Soon after the statement, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze clarified the promise, stating that “after banning opposition parties, their mandates should also be revoked.” According to the Prime Minister, legal claims will be prepared to ban opposition parties. Cases may be initiated in both the Constitutional Court and the Prosecutor’s Office.
The parties that Georgian Dream considers as the “collective United National Movement” were specified. The Prime Minister thinks that “we don’t have a multitude of subjects. [The coalition] which includes the United National Movement, several parties running together in these elections, as well as Akhali (New), Girchi, Droa, all these politicians have their past and present directly connected to the United National Movement.”
However, the list of parties didn’t end there. “There is such a union as Lelo, which was directly involved in business racketeering, and this should also be one of the subjects of investigation…. Gakharia, who has formed a coalition with the United National Movement in four municipalities, is in direct alliance with a criminal political force. This is one collective criminal force that must be brought to justice,” says Kobakhidze.
Consequently, the parties that the ruling team intends to liquidate if victorious include:
• UNM and the coalition formed around it (“Strategy Aghmashenebeli”, “European Georgia”)
• Akhali (New), Girchi, Droa – Coalition for Change
• Coalition united around Lelo
• Giorgi Gakharia’s party “For Georgia”
The Prime Minister’s 2022 statement can be found in the archives, where Irakli Kobakhidze himself referred to banning a party as an interference with fundamental human rights. “When it comes to banning a party, it is one of the most severe forms of interference with fundamental human rights, with the freedom of parties,” Kobakhidze said when the then Ombudsman was preparing a constitutional claim to ban the political party founded by the pro-Russian and violent “Alt-Info.”
Two years later, banning opposition parties has become Georgian Dream’s main pre-election message. This time, the talk is not about one, but all opposition parties that, according to preliminary research, have a chance of entering parliament and have a strongly expressed pro-Western course. This is also one of the main narratives of regional meetings. The honorary chairman of the ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, accuses the “collective National Movement” and a significant part of the opposition spectrum of “wanting to sow chaos in the country and ignite war” during his speeches at regional campaign events.
Georgian Dream’s pre-election promise was soon followed by the first messages from the European Union. In an interview with POLITICO, Peter Stano, the spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, states that “Brussels is concerned about Georgian Dream’s plan.” He says that opposition parties, an active civil society, and independent media play an important role in holding governments accountable and protecting democratic values, and pluralism is “a central pillar of the EU accession process.” “Current actions threaten Georgia’s EU path, which de facto leads to a halt in the accession process. The European Commission is closely monitoring the rhetoric and events unfolding in Georgia and is ready to respond accordingly. All options are on the table, and we will act accordingly if this statement is implemented,” Stano tells POLITICO.
The U.S. Embassy in Georgia responded to the statement about banning parties. “Democracies don’t ban oppositions” – a banner with this content was spread on the embassy’s official Facebook page. The Prime Minister responded to the posts spread by the embassy: “The cards published by the U.S. Embassy have only one purpose, to somehow influence the will of the voter.”
The statement about banning parties was included in the second interim report of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association’s (GYLA) long-term observation mission. The organization calls the spread of such messages alarming. According to GYLA, such narratives “aim to stigmatize opponents and foster nihilism among opposition-minded voters.” The organization states that “one of the fundamental principles of democracy is political pluralism and the right of opposition parties to operate freely. The threat of banning them directly contradicts this principle and threatens the democratic system.” The organization believes that it is essentially important for every citizen of the country to have a sense of the importance of their own vote “and not the feeling that the party they support may cease to exist.”
The ruling party’s position is shared by the affiliated movement “United Neutral Georgia”. The movement decided to intimidate the voters of opposition parties and issued a statement on October 15: “After the elections, in parallel with declaring the National Movement unconstitutional and their legal conviction, it is necessary to start exposing and prosecuting the voters of the collective National Movement. Each voter of the radical opposition must realize legal responsibility so that in the future, no one in this country dares to support anti-state, externally controlled agents and give them the opportunity to commit more crimes.” – reads the statement spread in the name of the movement. “United Neutral Georgia” was created in July 2024. Members of the movement openly express support for Georgian Dream.
According to the Constitution, “a political party can be banned only by the decision of the Constitutional Court”. The grounds and rules for abolishing a party are defined by the organic law “On Citizens’ Political Unions”. The Constitutional Court of Georgia can ban a party whose aim is:
• To overthrow or forcibly change the constitutional order of Georgia
• To violate the country’s independence
• To violate territorial integrity
• Which propagates war or violence, incites national, regional, religious or social strife;
• Creates or has created an armed formation
Only a few days remain until the elections. While Western partners assess Georgian Dream’s plans as alarming, the ruling team continues to talk about political revenge and calls on supporters for special mobilization to gain absolute power and completely remove opposition parties from the political field.
Author: Tamta Chkhaidze
