Georgian Dream Majority Leader Calls for Removal of Alleged Foreign Agents from Georgian Politics

Georgian Dream parliamentary majority leader Irakli Kirtskhalia has called for what he described as foreign agents to be removed from Georgia’s political landscape, as the country’s Constitutional Court prepares to continue proceedings concerning a lawsuit seeking to ban five political parties.

Speaking about the legal challenge aimed at having the parties declared unconstitutional, Kirtskhalia, who also chairs the ruling Georgian Dream parliamentary faction, said the party’s objective was to prevent political forces it considers to be acting on behalf of foreign interests from remaining active in Georgian politics.

“We have one objective: these foreign agents must be removed from Georgia’s political landscape,” Kirtskhalia said.

He argued that a favourable ruling by the Constitutional Court would represent a victory for both Georgia and its citizens.

“A victory in our lawsuit before the Constitutional Court would directly mean a victory for Georgia and the Georgian people, because our country should not have individuals posing as politicians who act as foreign agents and who, at the very least, ignore an important event such as the Chinese vice-president’s visit to Georgia,” Kirtskhalia said.

His remarks followed criticism of opposition parties for what he described as their failure to acknowledge the significance of the Chinese vice-president’s recent visit.

The Constitutional Court is scheduled to resume proceedings on the lawsuit seeking to declare five political parties unconstitutional and prohibit their activities on November 10 at 12:00 p.m. local time.