Georgian Parliament official says Georgia needs constructive opposition ahead of court case seeking to ban five parties

Davit Matikashvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules, on Saturday said that the Georgian people deserved a constructive opposition rather than an “agent network” dominating the opposition landscape.

Matikashvili made the remarks ahead of the Constitutional Court’s October 21 hearing on a lawsuit seeking to ban five opposition parties.

“These so-called political parties are, in reality, the ‘collective National Movement’, which has distinguished itself in the past and continues to do so through attacks on the constitutional order and its own country, as well as constant attempts to incite unrest and overthrow the government. These are parties that continually receive direct instructions and funding from abroad. They effectively constitute an agent network operating in their own homeland”, he said.

Matikashvili described the constitutional lawsuit seeking to ban the parties as justified, arguing that democracy needed the capacity to defend itself.

He added that it was for this very purpose that the constitutional lawsuit was prepared and submitted to the Constitutional Court.

“Georgia’s people deserve a constructive opposition, not an agent network that has monopolised the opposition landscape and, consequently, hinders the development of democratic processes”, Matikashvili concluded.