GD’s Kakhiani: Opposition parties have offered only political assessments so far; lawsuit is backed by strong evidence

According to Giorgi Kakhiani, a member of the parliamentary majority and Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, today’s proceedings at the Constitutional Court concerning five opposition parties will continue with the submission of motions. Following the National Movement and the Akhali (New) party, other parties will also have the opportunity to present their motions today.

Kakhiani said the motions submitted so far were entirely unjustified from a legal standpoint and that the Constitutional Court had already issued relevant rulings.

“As for the motion to exclude evidence, the Court ruled on it yesterday and denied the request. In general, proceedings at the Constitutional Court have begun. Initially, the process concerned recusal motions, and we are now at the stage of submitting motions. In other words, the parties — in this case, the respondents — are putting forward various motions. We have seen the National Movement and the Akhali party submit such motions, and today, other parties will also have the opportunity to submit their own.

“Assessing the motions filed so far, it is clear that they are entirely unjustified from a legal standpoint, and the Constitutional Court has issued rulings to that effect. One gets the impression that the primary objective of these motions is to prolong the proceedings rather than achieve any substantive outcome.

“Looking at how the process has unfolded, it is a fact that, so far, we have heard nothing but political commentary from the opposing side. On one occasion, a respondent was even removed from the courtroom.

“I believe our claim is so well supported by evidence and so legally sound that the opposing side cannot offer any valid counterarguments. To date, we have yet to hear their position. They are fully aware of the issues raised in our claim and the nature of our grievances. Naturally, these matters can be clarified further during the stage for explanations, should anyone have questions. However, their position remains unknown. They had the opportunity to submit a formal response but chose not to do so.

“In this instance, we do not know what evidence they might have to counter the claim. However, given how robust the evidence presented in the claim against them is, I consider it unlikely that they possess any such evidence,” Kakhiani said.

The Constitutional Court is reviewing a constitutional claim filed by Georgian Dream seeking to have the activities of five opposition parties — the National Movement, Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia – Lelo, the Federalists and Gakharia for Georgia — declared unconstitutional and banned.

The review of the claim began today and is scheduled to continue for three days. Proceedings will resume today at 12:00 p.m.