Georgian Parliament official says banning five opposition parties ‘important’ for Georgia’s sovereignty

Rati Ionatamishvili, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration, on Tuesday said that Georgia’s sovereignty and national dignity required preventing groups allegedly acting on behalf of foreign powers from remaining in Georgian politics.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Ionatamishvili highlighted the importance of the constitutional lawsuit filed by the ruling team seeking to ban five political parties, and said that the political actors in question had nothing in common with genuine political activity or political parties, describing them as projects of foreign powers and “repeat offenders”.

He added that they were prepared to undermine Georgia’s sovereignty on the instructions of foreign forces but ultimately failed to carry out those instructions.

“They repeatedly reject the will of our people, including that of their own voters. Today, these actors have lost the trust of the public and have been politically destroyed. A logical assessment of these developments ultimately leads to the process for which the country’s population gave us a mandate in the first place, when Georgian Dream won the latest parliamentary elections. It is important for our country’s sovereignty and dignity that groups acting on behalf of foreign powers do not remain in Georgian politics”, Ionatamishvili noted.

He added that Georgian Dream’s lawsuit was supported by legal arguments and that the ruling team would be represented by qualified representatives at the court hearings.

Ionatamishvili urged the opposition to present its arguments to the public during the court proceedings.