The opposition United National Movement party (UNM) has announced it intends to sue Georgian Dream at the Constitutional Court in a counterclaim against its constitutional lawsuit to ban Georgia’s pro-Western opposition groups.
One of the party’s members, Levan Bezhashvili, announced the plans to take Georgian Dream to the Constitutional Court on Monday.
‘By seizing power and rigging elections, the illegitimate parliament of [Georgian] Dream has created legislation that persecutes everyone who has a different opinion — ordinary protesters, civil activists, civil organisations, television stations, and now the time has come to abolish parties’, he said, according to IPN.
Bezhashvili noted that his party did ‘not have hope’ for the Constitutional Court, which he said had been ‘seized’ by Georgian Dream to fulfill its ‘political tasks’. He said the UNM will also file a lawsuit against the ruling party at the European Court of Human Rights.
He explained that his party intended to sue Georgian Dream across three separate stages: in the first, they intend to appeal the findings of the anti-opposition parliamentary commission created to investigate the opposition. Georgian Dream based its appeal to constitutionally ban the opposition on these findings. In the second stage, the UNM seeks to appeal against Georgian Dream’s plans to ban the opposition.
Yousef Bardouka
‘In the third stage, the lawsuit will concern Georgian Dream itself’, he said, without providing any additional details.
Georgian Dream announced that it seeks to ban the UNM, Ahali, and Lelo through its constitutional lawsuit on 28 October.
Former Georgian Dream Prime Minister and current opposition leader Giorgi Gakharia and his For Georgia party were not included in the list, despite him being subject to an investigation on charges of sabotage as a result of the anti-opposition report.
Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili explained on 28 October that Gakharia’s party avoided possible sabotage accusations by recently ending the parliamentary boycott it had joined a year ago alongside other opposition parties.
The ruling party officially filed a case against the three opposition parties on 30 October.
On 6 November, Georgian Dream handed out coup and sabotage charges against almost all major opposition leaders, six of whom were already in pre-trial detention or serving time — some for refusing to attend the anti-opposition parliamentary commission’s hearings.
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