UNM accuses Georgian Dream of violating Georgia’s Constitution

Georgia’s opposition United National Movement (UNM) has accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of violating the country’s Constitution as the Constitutional Court considers a lawsuit seeking to ban five opposition parties.

UNM leader Levan Bezhashvili said the lawsuit was unfounded, unconstitutional and contrary to the European Court of Human Rights’ case law.

“We spent two days proving to the court that their lawsuit was unsubstantiated. It is unconstitutional and contradicts the case law of the Strasbourg court,” Bezhashvili said.

He predicted that Georgian Dream might change its legal representatives, arguing that the allegations presented in the case were absurd and had not been adequately defended in court.

Bezhashvili said the opposition would seek to expose what it considers unconstitutional actions by the ruling party, accusing it of violating the Constitution and the country’s constitutional order.

Proceedings are continuing at Georgia’s Constitutional Court in a case seeking to declare five opposition parties unconstitutional and ban them. Georgian Dream argues that the parties threaten the country’s constitutional order, while opposition representatives have challenged the legal basis of the lawsuit.