MP Sharmanashvili: Unconstitutional organisations must not operate in Georgia, and I doubt the opposition will fight back with legal arguments

“We are ready to deal with this issue on legal grounds, and I would be very glad if they opposed us on legal grounds too, but I doubt it,” MP Tengiz Sharmanashvili, deputy chair of Parliament’s Defence and Security Committee, said before the Constitutional Court hearing began. He responded to a question about whether the opposition would be able to defend itself today.

Sharmanashvili also spoke about his expectations for the hearings and what the process should change in the political arena if the ruling party’s claim is upheld.

“They will probably try to put on a show, because they have almost no legal arguments, and they can’t have any, given how solid our evidence is. We are ready to deal with this on legal grounds, and we are preparing for that. Of course, we have considered that our opponents might not act in this manner, but that remains out of our hands. In that event, the court will rule on the matter and will likely instruct them to return to the legal arena. We said from the outset that expediency has nothing to do with it at this stage. What matters is whether a given organisation is unconstitutional, and whether it has committed, and is still committing, acts against the Constitution. So to start thinking, ‘yes, it’s unconstitutional, yes, they’re breaking the Constitution, but it’s not expedient, so shouldn’t we drop the matter?’ — that approach itself is wrong. Unconstitutional organisations must not operate in Georgia, whether that is politically expedient or not,” Sharmanashvili said.

The Constitutional Court is commencing its substantive hearing regarding the constitutionality and potential ban of five political parties.