Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court on October 30, signed by 88 lawmakers, seeking to ban the country’s three largest opposition parties: the United National Movement, the Coalition for Change, and Lelo. The authorities also want to restrict the public activities of politicians affiliated with those groups.
Earlier, the party founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili had said it was prepared to pursue bans against almost all pro-Western opposition groups, but in the end narrowed the list to the strongest electoral rivals. The party of Giorgi Gakharia was left out: after its lawmakers broke the opposition boycott and returned to parliament, the authorities said they no longer intended to seek its dissolution.
“At this stage there is no need to ban them. The issue of their unconstitutionality may be raised later if they gain substantial influence over the political process,” parliamentary speaker Shalva Papuashvili said, explaining why some opposition parties were not included in the claim for now.
The case restates earlier accusations made against the team of Mikheil Saakashvili: harming prospects for restoring Georgia’s territorial integrity, trying to provoke a war with Russia, and assisting a violent change of the constitutional order. The authorities also cite the events of October 4, 2025, when protesters broke into the courtyard of the presidential residence, after which a criminal case on an alleged coup attempt was opened and dozens of people were detained.
The opposition argues that a fair ruling cannot be expected inside Georgia. Levan Bezhasvili, one of the UNM leaders, said the party would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the Constitutional Court is under government control. Human rights NGOs have likewise called references to European practice misleading, stressing that in Council of Europe states party bans are treated only as an extreme measure.
Criticism has also come from PACE. Co-rapporteurs on Georgia Edite Estrela and Sabina Cudic warned that banning the democratic opposition would amount to a move toward one-party dictatorship and could call the country’s membership in the Council of Europe into question. Against that backdrop, UNM chair Tina Bokuchava said at the Euronest forum that Georgia was drifting away from European integration, while EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos acknowledged that Brussels had not acted firmly enough in its dealings with Tbilisi.