Georgia’s Constitutional Court opens hearings on bid to ban five opposition parties
Judges began hearing a case that could remove five opposition parties from Georgian politics. The court has until June 2027 to decide.
Georgia’s Constitutional Court opened hearings on October 21 in Batumi on a lawsuit seeking to ban five opposition parties. The case could remove a large part of the country’s opposition from legal politics; the court must decide by June 2027, and its ruling cannot be appealed in Georgia, Reuters reported.
The Constitutional Court Plenum scheduled hearings for October 21, 22 and 23, beginning at noon each day, Georgia Today reported. The case was brought by 88 members of parliament. Reuters reported that the ruling Georgian Dream party first filed the lawsuit a year ago against three opposition groups before widening it to five.
Which Georgian opposition parties face a ban?
The five respondents are Unity – National Movement; Coalition for Change – Gvaramia, Melia, Girchi, Droa; Strong Georgia – Lelo, For the People, For Freedom!; the Federalist Party; and For Georgia, led by Giorgi Gakharia, according to Georgia Today. Reuters reported that only For Georgia holds seats in parliament.
The plaintiffs ask the court to declare the parties’ activities unconstitutional and prohibit them under Article 23 of Georgia’s Constitution, Georgia Today reported. They allege that the parties have tried to overthrow or forcibly change the constitutional order. Georgian Dream says the parties pose a real threat to that order and accuses opposition figures of seeking power and fomenting war with Russia, according to Reuters. The accusations are before the court; judges have not ruled on them.
Why the court case matters for Georgia’s political system
Giorgi Butikashvili, foreign secretary of Ahali-Coalition for Change, told Reuters the case was about ‘depriving a large part of Georgian society of genuine political choice and fundamentally changing the nature of the country’s political system’. Reuters reported that rights groups and the European Union have condemned the move. Political scientist Kornely Kakachia told Reuters that a ban would challenge the minimum standards of political pluralism expected of an EU candidate country.
The dispute follows Georgian Dream’s victory in the 2024 parliamentary election, which the opposition says was rigged, Reuters reported. Georgia received EU candidate status in 2023, but Brussels now considers it a candidate ‘in name only’ because of democratic backsliding, according to Reuters. The court’s scheduled proceedings run through October 23; its decision remains pending.
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Sources and context
- Georgian court begins hearing lawsuit seeking ban on major opposition partiesThe Straits Times; Reuters reporting
- Georgia’s Constitutional Court begins hearings on banning five opposition partiesGeorgia Today
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