Restricting parties that go beyond constitutional boundaries ‘legitimate’, ruling party MP

Restricting the activities of political parties that go beyond constitutional boundaries and disregard human rights is legitimate, Archil Gorduladze, chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Legal Issues Committee, has said.

Speaking on Georgia’s First Channel programme Dgis Tema (Topic of the Day), Gorduladze defended restrictions on political parties, citing Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal as examples of countries where political organisations have been banned.

He claimed the European Court of Human Rights recognises that banning parties is an extreme measure, given their important role in democratic societies, but considers restrictions legitimate when parties act outside constitutional boundaries and disregard human rights.

“How many people supported the Nazi Party in Germany, and how many were members when it was banned in the 1950s?” Gorduladze asked, referring to the party banned in Germany after World War II.

Asked whether it was appropriate to draw parallels between such movements and Georgian opposition parties, including Lelo, ex PM Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party, the Federalists and the Ahali, Gorduladze said the opposition groups should apologise to their own voters.

He accused opposition parties of failing to represent their supporters’ interests in parliament and described them as different branches of the same political force. He referred to what he called the “old United National Movement”, the “new United National Movement” and “Lelo Nationalists”.

Gorduladze also criticised opposition parties for their parliamentary boycotts following the 2020 and 2024 elections, arguing that they had disregarded the will of their voters by refusing to take part in parliamentary proceedings.

Addressing Gakharia’s party, he cited statements made by its representatives Giorgi Sharashidze and Levan Gogichaishvili about the party’s decision to enter parliament after the political developments of 4 October 2025 failed to produce the anticipated outcome. Gorduladze also pointed to “cooperation” between Gakharia’s party and the United National Movement in municipal coalitions between 2021 and 2025.

He said the ruling party had initially given Gakharia’s party an opportunity to distance itself from the United National Movement and condemn extremism, but argued that it had failed to do so.

Gorduladze further claimed that the opposition continued to question the legitimacy of parliament, despite the “support of 1.12 million Georgian voters.”