The coalition “Strong Georgia - Lelo” has filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court challenging the “deprivation of voting rights for emigrants.”

As one of the leaders of “Strong Georgia - Lelo,” Giorgi Sioridze, stated, “the regime is trying to restrict and take away from citizens the right to participate in elections.”

“Our coalition is starting a legal battle to restore the voting rights of our emigrants.

The 2024 parliamentary elections showed that at the polling stations created abroad, where the regime did not have the opportunity for electoral manipulations, spinning the ‘carousel,’ using administrative resources, and intimidating or pressuring voters, ‘Georgian Dream’ was represented by 13 percent. They suffered a complete collapse and were defeated.

In response to this, ‘Georgian Dream’ has practically taken away the right to vote abroad from hundreds of thousands of our compatriots; polling stations abroad will no longer be opened. Particularly cynical was their response to the emigrants: ‘We are not taking away the voting right; everyone can come.’ How unrealistic this is is known to everyone.

When previously the problem was the opening of an insufficient and inadequate number of polling stations, for years we fought precisely so that more people abroad would be involved in the political process - those people who make a huge contribution to the country’s economic life should be involved in political life and in the formation of will. That is why ‘Georgian Dream’ has in reality taken away their voting rights.

On behalf of our coalition, I want to address the emigrants: join us, let us start the fight together!

For months we worked on the constitutional lawsuit and prepared a brilliant legal justification, because this is not merely a change of regulation, but an unconstitutional act. This lawsuit will be published and each emigrant will have the opportunity to formally become a participant in this claim, become a party, litigate in the Constitutional Court, while qualified lawyers will provide them with legal representation in court.

Naturally, we have no expectations not only from the Murusidze-Chinchaladze court, but also from the Constitutional Court; however, the struggle of a political party means fighting on all fronts - participation in elections, institutional struggle, peaceful protest, communication with Western partners. All of this serves one goal: that the Georgian people regain their voice and decide the fate of this country.

We are fighting the regime. The regime is trying to restrict and take away from citizens the right to participate in elections, while we are also using the method of institutional struggle,” Giorgi Sioridze stated.