BATUMI, Georgia -- Georgia's Constitutional Court will begin hearings on October 21 that seek an outright ban on the country's largest opposition parties, a move critics say would undermine fundamental democratic freedoms in the Caucasus nation.
The court will convene for three days in the Black Sea city of Batumi to consider the case brought by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power since 2012. A final ruling must be delivered by June 24, 2027.
Rights groups, the European Union, and others have criticized the ban, saying it could further fracture Georgian politics and society and hinder the country's ties with the West.
An alliance of opposition parties in Georgia has vowed to protest the ban "fearlessly and forcefully" with a monthlong series of major rallies across the country. The opposition has denounced the proceedings, describing them as politically motivated and arguing the ruling party is seeking to eliminate its main competitors.
Georgian Dream officials, including the party's founder Bidzina Ivanishvili -- a billionaire businessman who amassed a fortune in Russia before serving as Georgia's prime minister from 2012 to 2013 -- have repeatedly threatened to ban the opposition parties, saying the move protects the constitutional order.
"We will initiate a legal process that will result in the banning of the [opposition] United National Movement, as well as all its satellite and successor parties," Ivanishvili said ahead of parliamentary elections in 2024.
Georgian Dream has said it needed a constitutional majority in parliament to ban opposition parties. After failing to secure such a majority in the October 2024 elections, the ruling party turned to the Constitutional Court, with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stating these parties are "inherently unconstitutional."
The lawsuit initially targeted three opposition groups and was subsequently expanded to include five: the United National Movement (UNM), Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia – Lelo, the Federalists, and For Georgia.
The four opposition groups that crossed the electoral threshold in the 2024 elections received nearly 800,000 votes -- more than a third of all ballots -- combined, according to Georgia's Central Election Commission.
The Federalists, established shortly before the elections, have not yet contested a parliamentary election.
All five parties support closer ties with the West and Georgia's integration with the European Union and NATO.
Nika Gvaramia, a leader of the Coalition for Change, said the aim of the ban was not about depriving opposition politicians of their positions but "about depriving the country of democracy."
Some opposition groups said they would kick off a series of rallies starting at Tbilisi State University on October 25. They said the protest campaign, called "Georgia Without Ivanishvili," would run through November 28 -- the second anniversary of widespread protests following Georgian Dream's move to halt EU integration.
Allegations Of Unconstitutional Activity
The plaintiffs in the case argue that the five parties share unconstitutional goals, including seeking to overthrow or violently change Georgia's constitutional order, undermining the country's independence, and violating its territorial integrity.
The case also accuses the opposition parties of seeking to escalate tensions with Russia and bring Georgia into confrontation with Moscow.
Much of the supporting material comes from the findings of a temporary parliamentary investigative commission led by Georgian Dream lawmaker Tea Tsulukiani.
The commission examined the period when the UNM was in power, including the August 2008 war with Russia, as well as subsequent political developments. Founded by former President Mikheil Saakashvili, the party governed Georgia from 2003 to 2012.
Opposition parties and rights groups have challenged the legal basis of the proceedings and questioned the commission's impartiality. Transparency International called the commission "an illegal mechanism created by Georgian Dream to destroy opposition parties and eliminate pluralistic democracy in the country."
The ruling party has defended its initiative as an effort to protect Georgia's constitutional order. It has also indicated that more parties could face similar proceedings in the future, depending on their political influence.
Tinatin Khidasheli, a former defense minister who chairs the Georgian civil society think tank Civic IDEA, said the scale of the proposed bans raised fundamental questions about Georgia's democratic system.
"Once a country starts banning political parties on such a scale, it becomes difficult to speak of any compatibility with a democratic system," Khidasheli told RFE/RL.
The case comes amid worsening relations between Georgia and its Western partners and a growing crackdown on dissent.
Georgia received European Union candidate status in 2023, but its accession process has effectively stalled. In November 2024, Georgian Dream announced it would not seek to open membership talks before the end of 2028, triggering large-scale pro-European demonstrations.
The authorities' response to the protests has drawn criticism from human rights groups, which have reported arbitrary arrests, police violence, and pressure on independent media and civil society.
George Melashvili, a Georgian political scientist and civic activist, said the case was aimed at consolidating the ruling party's power.
"Its sole and primary objective is to establish total control and deprive society of the right to choose," he told RFE/RL.
The case also raises questions about Georgia's foreign policy direction and Russia's potential gains from the country's growing isolation from the West.
Moscow has long opposed Georgia's efforts to integrate with Western institutions.
Melashvili argued that outlawing pro-Western opposition groups would serve Russian interests by weakening those forces and reducing the prospects for Western engagement.
