Party ban will end representative democracy, TI Georgia

Transparency International Georgia on Friday said that if the Constitutional Court upheld a lawsuit filed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, future elections in the country would lose all meaning and representative democracy would effectively come to an end.

The organisation said the lawsuit seeking to ban opposition parties contradicted established case law of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the Constitutional Court of Georgia’s own approach, which emphasised the central role of political parties in ensuring a pluralistic political environment.

In its assessment, Transparency International Georgia said banning a political party could be justified only as an exceptional measure, applicable solely in circumstances where the continued activity of a party posed an immediate and real threat to democracy that could not be prevented by less radical means.

The organisation said the only evidence attached to the case was the conclusion of a temporary parliamentary investigative commission established in the parliament over the activities of the United National Movement government. It argued that the commission itself had been created in violation of the constitution and parliamentary rules, adding that its findings had no legal force.

Georgian Dream had sought to have several opposition parties declared unconstitutional and to bar opposition politicians from future political activity. The ruling party applied to the Constitutional Court on 31 October last year, requesting a ban on three of the four opposition parties that passed the threshold in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

The parties named in the lawsuit were United National Movement, Coalition for Change - Gvaramia Melia Girchi Droa, and Strong Georgia - Lelo, For the People, For Freedom.

Georgian Dream claimed the parties had been involved in unconstitutional actions, including sabotage against the Georgian state, and had maintained identical positions over many years.

The case also referenced the investigation into the killing of Roin Shavadze in 2008, citing it as one of the grounds for banning the United National Movement. Vasil Roinishvili, who prosecuted the case at the time, later served as a senior prosecutor, a fact highlighted by critics of the proceedings.

In parallel, prosecutors opened criminal cases against a number of opposition politicians, most of whom represented the three targeted parties. Charges included sabotage, assisting hostile foreign activities, financing actions against the constitutional order, and calling for the overthrow of the state.

Among those charged were former president Mikheil Saakashvili, as well as leading opposition figures Zurab Japaridze, Giorgi Vashadze, Elene Khoshtaria, Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze.

A separate criminal case was also opened against Giorgi Gakharia, the leader of the fourth opposition party, For Georgia, which had also passed the electoral threshold. He was accused over decisions taken while in office under Georgian Dream, including actions linked to the events of 20 June 2019 - when anti-government protests were dispersed -  and the construction of a checkpoint near the Russian-controlled Tskhinvali region.

Gakharia, who was not in Georgia, was remanded in custody in absentia by a Georgian court.