MP Tengiz Sharmanashvili: We are going to the Constitutional Court with legal arguments, not to hold a rally

According to parliamentary majority member MP Tengiz Sharmanashvili, Georgian Dream openly discussed declaring certain political parties unconstitutional ahead of the elections, a proposal that 1.2 million voters backed.

MP Sharmanashvili emphasised that Georgian Dream will present strictly legal arguments before the Constitutional Court.

“Until now, we were accused of inventing obstacles to drag out this process. We maintained that it was simply a procedural matter and hoped that a hearing date would be set in due time. And it was set in due time. Whether this occurred in January, December, or July is not important. It is a constitutional procedure that we discussed before the elections. One of our key campaign slogans was that we would use this constitutional mechanism and attempt to prove before the Constitutional Court that these organisations are unconstitutional. Following that, 1.2 million citizens voted for us, meaning they knew precisely what we intended to do, and 1.2 million people told us: ‘go ahead and do it.’ And that is what we are doing.

While the timeline may have stretched slightly, no one can claim we are now rushing the process, given that opponents previously accused us of stalling. The position outlined in the lawsuit remains as declared, and we will seek to substantiate it in court. Both sides will present arguments, and further specifics will emerge. We are going to court to prove that these parties are unconstitutional. What will this achieve? The enforcement of the constitutional order. This does not automatically mean the court will uphold our suit; that depends on what the plaintiff presents. The burden of proof rests on the plaintiff, and we must demonstrate their unconstitutionality. The decision-making body, the Constitutional Court, cannot rule on our political expediency, nor can we deliver rally speeches there. If we resort to rally rhetoric, we will undoubtedly lose. We are not going to the Constitutional Court to hold a rally or make political declarations; we are going there with legal arguments. I advise our opponents to meet us with legal arguments as well—otherwise, they will lose very easily,” Tengiz Sharmanashvili stated.

The constitutional lawsuit filed by 88 members of the Parliament of Georgia seeks to ban the activities of several political parties: Unity – National Movement, Coalition for Change – Gvaramia Melia Girchi Droa, Strong Georgia – Lelo, For the People, For Freedom, the Federalist Party, and Gakharia For Georgia. The Constitutional Court is scheduled to begin reviewing the lawsuit next week.