The opposition party Gakharia for Georgia has asked the Constitutional Court to consider its case separately from proceedings seeking to ban five opposition parties.
At a briefing, the party’s executive secretary, Berdia Sichinava, presented a statement arguing that assessing each party individually was a minimum legal requirement.
The party said Georgian Dream must explain the specific legal grounds and evidence for seeking to ban a parliamentary opposition party that had participated in constitutional processes, nationwide elections and parliamentary commissions.
It argued that its inclusion in the case undermined the ruling party’s claim that the proposed bans targeted opposition groups engaged in boycotts.
“Adding the only parliamentary opposition party to the lawsuit confirms that Georgian Dream’s goal is to declare dissent unconstitutional and ultimately ban it,” the statement said.
The party accused Georgian Dream of seeking to eliminate genuine political competition and replace it with a controlled opposition, creating only the appearance of competitive elections.
It described the demand for its prohibition as legally unfounded and linked it to what it characterized as Bidzina Ivanishvili’s public threat against Giorgi Gakharia in October 2024.
