PM Kobakhidze: opposition parties strengthened case for their own ban through court statements

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has claimed opposition parties seeking to challenge a court case against them have made statements that could strengthen the arguments for banning them.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Kobakhidze said he agreed with views within the opposition that the parties should not have taken part in proceedings at the Constitutional Court, arguing that their statements had proved counterproductive.

“They said so many things in support of the lawsuit that attending the Constitutional Court hearings has clearly been counterproductive for them,” he said.

Kobakhidze singled out a statement by opposition leader  Nika Gvaramia about the opposition parties acting as a “single organism”, saying it could be useful to the claimant in the case.

The PM also reiterated the government’s position that Georgian politics should have no place for what he described as “foreign agents”.

“Georgia without foreign agents - that is our slogan. We are eliminating foreign agency from Georgian politics,” Kobakhidze said.

He argued that political parties should serve the interests of Georgia and its people, regardless of whether they are part of the government or the opposition.

Kobakhidze also claimed that Georgia currently had no genuine opposition, describing the five parties targeted by the constitutional case as a single entity that he called “foreign agency”.