Tbilisi (GBC) - Georgia's ruling party said Monday it will file a new lawsuit with the Constitutional Court seeking to ban opposition parties, further ratcheting up pressure on political opponents amid the crisis following disputed 2024 elections.
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said the ruling party would withdraw its old lawsuit and instead submit an expanded list that includes the Federalists party. The previous targets of the ban were the United National Movement, the Coalition for Change, and Lelo.
Papuashvili said the lawsuit was amended following a declaration signed by opposition groups on March 2, 2026. According to him, this union aims to “not recognize constitutional institutions and undermine democratic processes.”
“We are appealing to the Constitutional Court with a new, amended lawsuit, in which the number of parties has increased,” Papuashvili said. He called the opposition alliance a continuation of the “criminal regime” and noted that the government is monitoring both the parties’ “anti-constitutional goals” and their influence on political processes.
Political temperatures in Georgia have been particularly high since the opposition and part of the West did not recognize the results of the October 2024 parliamentary elections as legitimate. The Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012, accuses its opponents of pursuing the interests of the “global war party” and attempting to destabilize the country.
Critics and international human rights organizations believe that the possible ban on opposition parties would push the country toward one-party rule and ultimately distance it from its goal of integration into the European Union.
If the Constitutional Court upholds the lawsuit, the country's leading opposition forces would be stripped of their electoral status, an unprecedented step in Georgia's modern history.
