ALDE strongly condemns proposed party ban in Georgia, urging the EU to impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for the crackdown

“Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party is seeking to ban five opposition parties, including Lelo, an ALDE member party and part of the Strong Georgia coalition. If successful, the move could leave hundreds of thousands of voters in political limbo,” the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party said in a statement.

According to the statement, on 25 October several ALDE member parties in Georgia joined a protest campaign in Tbilisi under the banner of the Opposition Alliance. The campaign’s main message is: “Georgia without Ivanishvili. Georgia deserves better.”

“Lelo, which competed in Georgia’s disputed 2024 parliamentary elections as part of the Strong Georgia coalition, is now among the parties facing a ban. With the next parliamentary elections due in 2028, the move would sideline key political challengers and further restrict democratic competition,” the statement reads.

ALDE strongly condemns the proposed ban and calls for the case to be withdrawn. It also urges the EU to impose tougher, targeted sanctions on those responsible for the crackdown. According to ALDE, the European Parliament has also opposed the attempt to ban the parties. The statement adds that the move is part of a broader crackdown on dissent by the authorities.

“Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has labelled opponents ‘liberal fascists’, while authorities have tightened restrictions on protests, civil society and independent media. The government’s approach has been compared to Russia’s repression of opposition. Opposition Alliance is taking its campaign to the streets with a campaign that will continue until 28 November. This date marks two years since Georgia’s EU accession talks were suspended until 2028; a decision that sparked mass protests and concerns about their European future. For Georgia’s liberals, the fight is about more than the fate of five parties. It is about whether voters can choose their representatives freely, and whether the country can pursue a European future while its democratic freedoms are being restricted,” the ALDE statement says.

The statement notes that ALDE stands with its liberal partners and that they will not accept a political system in which opposition can simply be banned. “The fight for a free, democratic and European Georgia is far from over,” ALDE said.