Opposition parties pose ‘existential threat’ to Georgia, ruling party MP Gorduladze

Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has described five opposition parties as an “existential threat to Georgian statehood” as it seeks to have them banned by the Constitutional Court.

“These common objectives were, are and will remain an existential threat to Georgian statehood,” Archil Gorduladze, chairman of parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, said.

Gorduladze claimed the parties shared common political objectives and had acted together in ways that, according to the ruling party, threatened Georgia’s constitutional order. He accused them of seeking to delegitimise the authorities, refusing to recognise election results and boycotting parliament.

The lawsuit, filed by 88 members of parliament, seeks to declare the activities of five opposition parties unconstitutional and ban them - the United National Movement, Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia-Lelo, the Federalist Party and Gakharia for Georgia.