Speaker Papuashvili: Enemies of the Constitution have no place in a democratic party landscape

“Enemies of the Constitution have no place in a democratic party landscape,” said Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament.

In a statement to the press, Papuashvili argued that Georgia’s Constitution is founded on the universal principle that democracy must be capable of self-defence, meaning its enemies cannot be permitted to exploit democratic mechanisms to subvert the constitutional order itself.

He said this principle applies in every country, including Georgia.

“If we look at recent experience, we see that 18 parties have been banned in Ukraine, and we haven’t heard a single word of criticism from Brussels. Two political parties were banned in Moldova, yet Brussels remained silent. What’s more, in July this year Moldova banned four more parties deemed to be successors to one of the banned parties. It is worth remembering that the Georgian Parliament introduced exactly the same mechanism on successor parties through a legislative amendment last year. We said at the time that these rules exist in other countries too. And they don’t just exist on paper; they are applied in practice, including in Moldova, where four parties were banned a few months ago. They tell us Moldova and Ukraine are ahead of Georgia. Well, they are ahead in this regard too: Ukraine banned 18 parties, Moldova six, some targeted specifically as successor parties. So we’re trying to catch up with Moldova and Ukraine in terms of democratic tools. I say that with a touch of humour, but the matter is serious,” Papuashvili said.

He added that for years, the Constitution had faced a continuous assault: first from a ruling party, and then from the United National Movement and all its offshoots, who carried on that fight from the opposition in a violent bid to overthrow the government.

“Of course, at some point tolerating this becomes unacceptable, because we cannot always be in reaction mode. A state that seeks to stop unconstitutional actions also needs a prevention mechanism. That is why this process matters. It’s good that the hearings have been scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We’ll see how long the case takes. Our representatives will lead the process for the claimant: MPs Archil Gorduladze, Giorgi Kakhiani, Tengiz Sharmanashvili and Tornike Cheishvili. We hope the Constitutional Court will ultimately accept our arguments,” he said.

Questioned on who would remain on the opposition flank should the court side with Georgian Dream and ban these parties, Papuashvili remarked that Georgia ‘has no shortage of parties’.

“I don’t think these are the parties that even opposition voters are pinning their hopes on. The IRI survey showed that trust in these parties and their ratings are around zero per cent, within the margin of error. They squandered their support long ago, when they boycotted the 2024 election results and tore up the mandates the people had given them, and the people turned their backs on them. The latest IRI survey confirmed this, putting these parties at around one per cent support.

The lawsuit targets inherently anti-constitutional parties that have repeatedly attempted to overthrow the government by violent means and no longer command public support, as confirmed by a recent survey. So I believe that if the Constitutional Court accepts our arguments, the Georgian people and society as a whole will benefit. This includes not only our supporters and those who dislike these specific parties, but also individuals who are critical of the government. Because the obstacle these violent parties represent will be removed from the opposition flank, and opposition voters, critical voters, will find it easier to find a party they can support.

The IRI survey also confirms that our country’s political landscape does not depend on these parties. Even members of these parties themselves admit that, today, the parties are an obstacle to any consolidation of the opposition flank,” Papuashvili said.

Georgian Dream has filed a constitutional lawsuit seeking to outlaw and ban the activities of five opposition groups: the United National Movement, the Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia – Lelo, the Federalists, and Gakharia for Georgia.

The Constitutional Court will begin hearing the case on 21 October.