Ruling party senior MP compares Georgian Dream’s case against opposition to Germany’s stance on AfD

Levan Machavariani, first deputy chair of the Georgian Dream parliamentary faction, has defended the ruling party’s efforts to ban opposition parties, arguing that Germany is pursuing similar measures against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party while criticising Georgia for taking legal action against what he described as the former ruling regime.

Speaking on the Post-Analitika programme, Machavariani said a German journalist had questioned him about Georgian Dream's constitutional case seeking to ban what the party calls "agent parties". He said he responded by pointing to discussions in Germany over a possible ban on the AfD.

“We have nine years of evidence, including findings confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights, yet you ask why we are filing a lawsuit. At the same time, your government wants to ban the AfD because it sees a potential future threat based on its rhetoric,” Machavariani said.

He also accused the Georgian opposition of engaging in activities aimed at harming the country, including calling for sanctions, lobbying foreign partners to suspend cooperation with Georgia, encouraging economic disruption and participating in training programmes that he claimed were designed to fuel unrest.

“Politically, I can describe this as treason against the homeland,” Machavariani said.

He added that he hoped the ongoing criminal investigations into opposition figures would ultimately result in legal conclusions that would leave “no question marks” about the allegations against them.