Kobakhidze says participation in local elections won’t help opposition parties circumvent ban
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze clarified that the ruling Georgian Dream party will request the Constitutional Court to ban major opposition parties regardless of whether or not participate in the municipal elections.
Kobakhidze's comment came in response to a question regarding Lelo — Strong Georgia and For Georgia: two opposition groups that have announced their intent to participate in the upcoming October 2025 local elections, despite the bulk of the country’s opposition parties boycotting the vote.
A journalist had asked Kobakhidze whether the ruling party would still seek to ban Lelo and For Georgia should they manage to secure mandates at the municipal level.
‘We will appeal [to the court] regarding all four parties, because all four are essentially one political power — this is the collective UNM. It is a foreign agency that, for years now, since 2003, has been collectively working against Georgia’s national interests’, he said.
When asked for clarification on whether Lelo and For Georgia’s participation in the elections would change anything, Kobakhidze responded saying: ‘Of course not’.
Kobakhidze was referring to all four major pro-Western opposition groups that managed to cross the electoral threshold in the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections. Those include the United National Movement (UNM), which ruled Georgia between 2003–2012, as well as Coalition for Change, Lelo, and For Georgia.
The ruling party and their satellites regularly refer to the four groups as the ‘collective National Movement’, claiming that they are either spun off from the UNM, led by former UNM officials, or cooperated with the former ruling party in some way.
Georgian Dream’s accuses the UNM of being a criminal regime that has committed serious offences while in power and, therefore, should no longer be allowed to exist.
In February, Georgian Dream established a ‘fact-finding commission’ in parliament, with the aim of investigating the UNM’s rule in order to ban the party.
Initially, its mandate was limited to the UNM’s years in government, but it was later expanded to cover the period up to the present day — effectively allowing the ruling party to target virtually any opposition figure. Numerous opposition leaders have been arrested for boycotting the commission.
Georgian Dream has already announced that the commission’s conclusions will serve as the basis for its petition to the Constitutional Court, where it will seek to ban the UNM and its ‘satellites.’
Later, in April, the ruling party passed a law that would allow the banning of political parties if they are deemed similar to previously banned parties. Critics believe that Georgian Dream could use this bill to request the banning of existing and future parties deemed to be successors of previously banned groups.
In April, Georgian Dream also stated that, due to procedural issues, the party bans would not happen before the October municipal elections.
Several opposition groups — including the UNM and the Coalition for Change — have declared a boycott of the October elections.
For supporters of a boycott, taking part in the elections would undermine the policy of refusing to recognise Georgian Dream’s legitimacy following the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections, which were marred by major electoral violations.
Parties in favour of participating in the elections have argued that opposition involvement in the process will strengthen the anti-government momentum and prevent Georgian Dream from gaining full control over all state institutions.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
