Ruling party MP accuses opposition of delaying court case seeking party bans

Tornike Cheishvili, a member of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party, has accused opposition parties of deliberately delaying proceedings at the Constitutional Court, saying they fear a substantive examination of a lawsuit seeking to ban five opposition groups.

The case was brought by 88 MPs from Georgian Dream and seeks to have the United National Movement, Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia-Lelo, the Federalists and Gakharia for Georgia declared unconstitutional and banned.

The ruling party alleges that the groups have undermined Georgia’s constitutional order. The opposition parties reject the legitimacy of the proceedings and have criticised the case as politically motivated. The court began substantive hearings in Batumi on 21 October, with sessions scheduled to continue through 23 October. 

Cheishvili said the parties appearing as respondents were attempting to prolong procedural stages, including presentations of explanations, question-and-answer sessions, legal arguments and closing conclusions.

“As expected, the forces acting as agents, represented in this case as respondents before the Constitutional Court, are trying to delay specific stages as much as possible,” Cheishvili said.

He argued that their conduct showed they were concerned about the constitutional proceedings and the complaint, adding that they were well aware of what he described as unconstitutional actions committed over the years, both between 2003 and 2012 and after 2012.

Cheishvili also said the previous day’s hearing had, in his view, demonstrated that the opposition parties were opposed to the constitutional order.

“Their attitude in the courtroom can only indicate that they do not recognise the constitutional order and attach little value to the constitutional system, the country’s independence, or other important principles and values enshrined in Georgia’s Constitution,” he said.