MP Kadagishvili: Without a party ban precedent, Georgia will remain an arena for permanent sabotage and coups

“Every political party must know that its actions have to stay within the constitutional framework,” said MP Irakli Kadagishvili, chair of Parliament’s Regional Policy and Self-Government Committee.

In his view, if the parties are not banned, Georgia will remain a permanent arena for political sabotage and coups.

“These political parties deserve a banning verdict from the Constitutional Court. The matter is now entirely in the hands of the Constitutional Court. As for our partners’ statements, they are biased and disrespectful of Georgia’s Constitution, and they are even busy rejecting the findings of their own institutions. Whenever a politically high-profile case came up, there was always direct interference in Georgian justice, with claims that it amounted to political persecution. Every time such a case went to Strasbourg, the European Court upheld Georgian justice. So do our partners think that Georgia’s Constitution and its justice system are there to be run from outside? That we are not a sovereign, independent state? Their refusal to recognise the election results, even though the OSCE/ODIHR report stated that the elections were competitive and reflected the will of the Georgian people, was what ultimately damaged democracy. Despite that, they called the elections illegitimate, and the European Parliament even adopted a resolution. After that, what support for democracy are we talking about? These parties were pulled out of parliament, yet not one of them was told that this damaged democracy or disrespected voters. On the contrary, they came out and openly backed the 4 October coup,” Kadagishvili said.

He said that this shows once again that the issue is not upholding democratic standards but pursuing narrow political interests.

“After the 2012 elections, they were given the chance to lead a normal political life, but they used it precisely for coups, sabotage and the like. If these parties are not banned, Georgia will remain a permanent arena for political sabotage and coups. Every party needs to know that its actions must fit within the constitution. If we fail to set these precedents, we perpetuate a harmful tradition stretching back to independence, an era where coups and confrontations faced zero legal accountability. We cannot build a true multi-party democracy on that foundation. Let’s look at the facts: since 2012, the United National Movement and its coalition cluster have refused to recognise or participate normally in a single parliamentary election. Could that boycott have had any evidential basis? They simply didn’t like the results and wanted to turn everything upside down,” Kadagishvili said.