Activists accuse Government of bocking registration of new political movement

Representatives of Georgia’s Movement for Social Democracy have accused the Ministry of Justice of deliberately stalling their registration, after waiting a month for an official response.

Under Georgian law, the ministry is required to process such applications within a single day. However, one of the movement’s founders, constitutionalist Vakhushti Menabde, said they had yet to receive an answer despite submitting all necessary documents in February.

“Legally, the inaction of an administrative body means refusal, and politically, it means that the regime sees a threat in the unification of citizens around an idea,” Menabde wrote on Facebook.

The Ministry of Justice has not commented on the allegations.
The Movement for Social Democracy is not the only organisation facing delays. Representatives of the Public Servants’ Union and the Georgian Psychologists’ Union say they have also been unable to secure official registration.

In response, all three groups plan to hold a joint briefing outside the House of Justice on Friday, at 4 p.m.

The groups argue that the government’s actions amount to an effort to obstruct civil and political activism. “The failure of the registry to comply with the law is aimed at hindering our activities,” the organisations said in a statement.