Giorgi Sioridze on Judge Manana Kobakhidze’s request to recuse herself from the lawsuit on the ban of parties: Ivanishvili is acting according to the principle of a criminal syndicate and is forcing everyone to participate in this unconstitutional act

All those persons who will take part in the implementation of Ivanishvili’s this plan face not only international, financial and visa sanctions, but also the strictest verdict of Georgian society and a shameful place in the history of Georgia. This is very well understood in the Constitutional Court as well, one of the leaders of “Strong Georgia – Lelo,” Giorgi Sioridze, stated, responding to the wish of Constitutional Court Judge Manana Kobakhidze not to take part in the consideration of the constitutional lawsuit related to the ban of parties, which the Plenum of the Constitutional Court did not satisfy.

According to him, Ivanishvili is forcing everyone to take part in an unconstitutional act: “Ivanishvili is acting according to the principle of a criminal syndicate and is forcing everyone to participate in this unconstitutional, criminal act.”

“This morning the Constitutional Court of Georgia did not satisfy the motion of one of its judges, Manana Kobakhidze, on self-recusal from the consideration of the lawsuit on the ban of parties. We are not surprised by Kobakhidze’s attempt to avoid participation in this extremely heavy decision, yet we must understand well that all those persons who will take part in the implementation of Ivanishvili’s this plan face not only international, financial and visa sanctions, but also the strictest verdict of Georgian society and a shameful place in the history of Georgia. This is very well understood in the Constitutional Court as well, yet Ivanishvili is acting according to the principle of a criminal syndicate and is forcing everyone to participate in this unconstitutional, criminal act. Ivanishvili’s regime intends to ban those political parties which, according to their own official data, were supported by up to one million citizens.

The process of banning parties is the biggest step toward the burial of democracy in Georgia that ‘Georgian Dream’ is planning to take. This step damages our state, it damages Georgia’s national interests and constitutes sabotage of the process of our country’s integration into the Euro-Atlantic space, thereby violating the Constitution of Georgia, in particular its Article 78. A threat may arise both to the visa-free regime with the European Union and to Georgia’s status as a candidate for EU membership, to financial assistance and to all those privileges that our country enjoyed and that, first of all, the citizens of Georgia enjoyed. Accordingly, we are dealing with a historic crime for which ‘Georgian Dream’ will have to pay the highest political price that it has ever paid, both inside the country and on the international arena,” Giorgi Sioridze stated.

For information: the Constitutional Court of Georgia did not satisfy the motion of Constitutional Court Judge Manana Kobakhidze on self-recusal from the consideration of the constitutional lawsuit related to the ban of parties.

As stated in the information circulated by the court, Manana Kobakhidze addressed the Constitutional Court on 9 October regarding self-recusal from the consideration of the constitutional lawsuit.

According to the motion, a member of the Plenum of the Constitutional Court of Georgia, Manana Kobakhidze, considers that her involvement in the consideration of the constitutional lawsuit and the related legal or procedural issues may give rise among the participants of constitutional proceedings and the public to a reasonable doubt regarding the impartial and objective resolution of this case, which constitutes the ground for her self-recusal from the consideration of the lawsuit.

According to the judge’s statement, the public is aware of the fact that in the past she was a founding member of the citizens’ political association “Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia” and also held the position of chairperson of the said political party. In addition, during the period of membership of the indicated political association, she was elected a member of the eighth and ninth convocations of parliament, where she performed important functions.