Opposition Reacts to GD’s Bid to Ban Key Parties
The ruling Georgian Dream party has presented a Constitutional Court appeal seeking to ban three major opposition forces – the United National Movement (UNM), Ahali/Coalition for Change, and Lelo/Strong Georgia – which crossed the 5% threshold in the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections.
The ruling party also warned that smaller opposition groups could face similar action, but excluded former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party, whose MPs took their seats in the disputed Parliament after a yearlong boycott.
We have compiled the initial reactions of opposition figures in Georgia:
Tina Bokuchava, UNM Chair: “It doesn’t matter which parties Ivanishvili’s ‘kangaroo’ Constitutional Court will ban or not. A party is a union of people who fight for common goals. On the contrary, this could become a new opportunity for the country’s democratic political forces – those who truly fight against Ivanishvili’s treacherous criminal gang and for a better future for Georgia – to unite in a common resistance movement.”
Irakli Kupradze, leader of Lelo/Strong Georgia: “The anti-national and anti-Georgian Georgian Dream decided to deliver a decisive blow to democracy and ban the pro-Western opposition parties, including the political coalition Lelo – Strong Georgia, which for these years has pursued the fundamental interests of Georgian citizens – to bring the people’s voice back into politics. We will continue our struggle and resistance. The Russian-style regime, which seeks to remove the pro-Western opposition voice in this country, including in the form of the Lelo – Strong Georgia coalition, poses a challenge we are determined to resist…The resistance against the Russian regime, the Georgian Dream, will be uncompromising and principled.”
Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of Lelo/Strong Georgia: “You’re right to be afraid of Strong Georgia. We’ll send you away anyway.”
Coalition for Change: “The regime and Ivanishvili have once again explicitly shown that they are weak and afraid of the national forces in fair elections… A political party is an instrument of democracy. Otherwise, people change governments and regimes. Nearly a million Georgian voters decided that Georgian Dream cannot represent our people and our state. Therefore, it is important to know that we will use every lever to defeat Georgian Dream so that the national forces come to power in Georgia, because Georgia, now more than ever, needs unity and must be formed into a strong state that will undoubtedly reach EU membership and restore Georgia’s real sovereignty. If anyone is taking away our sovereignty today, it is Bidzina Ivanishvili and the Russian regime.”
Elene Khoshtaria, leader of Droa: “The ban on parties by this government is just as illegal as the entire illegitimate, Russian-backed regime itself. What Bidzina’s slave Papuashvili said today – his attempt to rewrite Georgia’s modern history – is a story made up by Russians, the invented history of their colony.”
Giga Bokeria, leader of Federalists: “This constitutes the deprivation of citizens’ choice – not only of those who currently sympathize with the parties to be banned, but of everyone. Ivanishvili, the regime, and the government will decide for all of you citizens, regardless of your political preferences, what choices you are allowed to have. This is the direct establishment of a one-party dictatorship, and, of course, this measure, this draconian, shameful instrument, will end with the defeat of Ivanishvili’s regime.”
Giorgi Sharashidze, Gakharia For Georgia: “Time will tell whether this constitutional and party-banning campaign is actually yet another ‘fake’ campaign between Georgian Dream and the United National Movement. We say this because the UNM is the main reason Georgian Dream has been in power for 13 years. Banning a political party is simply incomprehensible. Of course, it’s unconstitutional. When you want to defeat a political party, you must first defeat it through elections.”
More to follow…
Also Read:
- 16/10/2025 – GD Parliament Adopts Law Extending Party Ban to Individuals
- 23/08/2024 – PM Kobakhidze Confirms GD Aims to Ban All Current Opposition Coalitions, Cancel MP Mandates
- 28/03/2025 – GD to Ban Opposition Groups Under “Successor Parties” Law, Declare Them Unconstitutional