For Georgia: GD’s election victories rely on UNM’s fear; true purpose of lawsuit will soon become clear

“We cannot fathom the logic behind Georgian Dream. It is practically impossible to decipher their reasoning. We are also baffled by the arguments presented by Papuashvili. This is especially true in relation to Lelo. We simply cannot understand why Lelo was included among these so-called banned parties. Our support remains with Lelo,” stated Giorgi Sharashidze, a member of the Gakharia for Georgia party.

When asked about the constitutional lawsuit presented by Georgian Dream, Sharashidze responded:

“As for the United National Movement and its affiliates, you know our position: if a party deserves to be defeated, it must be done through elections and political means first and foremost. A ban cannot be considered a constitutional step in any case. There is also the broader perspective that this move signals yet another phase of radicalisation and escalation of confrontation between Georgian Dream and the United National Movement. In reality, even if Georgian Dream legally bans the coalition of the Ahali and the United National Movement, I am convinced that the UNM, as a symbol of fear, will never truly disappear; Georgian Dream will facilitate this.

You are well aware that GD has consistently exploited the fear of the UNM to win every election. It will soon become clear whether all of this is genuine or merely another orchestrated campaign. We can speculate on many things. The process may never reach its conclusion.

Regarding the so-called successor party, GD retains some leverage; whenever it chooses, it can confirm or deny its status as a successor. Georgian Dream will use this as a strategic tool.

Legally, this is one matter, but GD will not and cannot accept the disappearance of the UNM as a fear factor in the political landscape. Today, if anyone relies on the United National Movement as a worse alternative to GD, it is the Georgian Dream itself,” Sharashidze explained.

However, he also noted the difficulty in understanding why the Gakharia for Georgia party was not included in the constitutional lawsuit initiated by Georgian Dream.

“It’s hard for us to grasp the logic behind Georgian Dream’s decision to exclude us from this list, especially considering that the leader of our party was summoned twice to the investigative commission. All we know is that the decision we made was the right one to preserve the political process. We accepted this challenge to continue our fight within the Georgian Parliament, from within Georgian Dream. You will see that this will be a fierce and principled struggle against the oppressive GD regime,” Sharashidze affirmed.

The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, presented a constitutional lawsuit seeking to declare the activities of the United National Movement, the Coalition for Change, and Strong Georgia–Lelo unconstitutional and ban them.