Irakli Kobakhidze on lawsuit to ban opposition parties: The case concerns declaring one political party unconstitutional – the “Collective National Movement”

“These are not political parties in reality; they are one political party. This lawsuit concerns declaring a single political party unconstitutional. That party is called the ‘Collective National Movement.’ It is also what we call a foreign agency, and there is no place for a foreign agency in our political system,” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said, commenting on the constitutional lawsuit.

According to Kobakhidze, declaring this particular party unconstitutional is necessary to restore the health of Georgia’s democratic system.

“Overall, it can be said that the first part of the proceedings unfolded in an interesting way. Of course, everyone saw that the opposition was artificially trying to delay the process. It is somewhat difficult to explain what purpose artificially delaying the proceedings could serve, but the fact is that the opposition was doing so, submitting motions that had no prospect of success. This was clear from the outset, yet they continued to do it.

“Meanwhile, there were many revealing remarks that will, of course, help us strengthen our lawsuit and our demands.

“As for public support, they tried to gather people around these proceedings outside the Constitutional Court building, but they failed at that too. There is one simple reason for this: they have actually disappointed their own voters first and foremost. They received 785,000 votes and betrayed those voters. That betrayal is also one of the factors supporting our lawsuit.

“They betrayed their country’s national interests and their own voters. Ultimately, this forms part of the argument in our lawsuit, which explains why these political forces are unconstitutional in their very essence.

“In reality, these are not separate political parties; they are one political party. This lawsuit concerns declaring a single political party unconstitutional. It is called the ‘Collective National Movement.’ It is what we call a foreign agency, and there is no place for a foreign agency in our political system.

“Declaring this particular party unconstitutional is necessary to finally restore the health of Georgia’s democratic system and free our country from the vicious cycle in which it has been artificially trapped for all these years. Our lawsuit serves precisely this purpose: breaking that cycle and restoring the health of democratic processes,” Kobakhidze said.

According to the prime minister, one of the most revealing remarks during the proceedings came from Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, who told a judge: “We are one organism.”

“One of the most revealing remarks was precisely that. This is one of the main foundations of our argument: although these political parties are formally divided into five separate entities, in reality they constitute one organism, as Mr. Gvaramia himself acknowledged. In fact, they are one political party, and I thank Mr. Gvaramia for admitting it,” Kobakhidze said.