Georgian Parliament Speaker: no place for anti-democratic, extremist forces in democratic system

There is no place for anti-democratic and democracy-hostile parties within a democratic process - this is the essence of a resilient democracy, said on Thursday the Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, commenting on the constitutional lawsuit filed against the United National Movement (UNM) and its allied parties.

In his remarks, Papuashvili noted that a thorough parliamentary investigation had been conducted, resulting in a 450-page report evaluating the period when the United National Movement was in power, adding that the document would be presented to the Constitutional Court as evidence, which must determine what each party deserves.

“There is no place in a democratic process for anti-democratic, democracy-hostile parties - this is the essence of a resilient democracy. If we want Georgian democracy to survive and develop, we must not leave room for radical and anti-constitutional forces. This is precisely the purpose of the constitutional lawsuit supported by 1,120,000 voters who endorsed this idea in last year’s elections”, the Speaker` said.

“Our goal is to defend our democracy from radical, extremist, and anti-constitutional forces. An extremist force cannot be an opposition - these concepts are incompatible. Several political groups, including the United National Movement, placed themselves beyond the boundaries of democratic opposition by refusing to participate in the elections and by planning to overthrow the government on October 4. Therefore, the United National Movement and similar allied groups are not opposition parties but extremist, anti-constitutional, radical groups”, the Speaker continued.

Papuashvili concluded by emphasising that with this lawsuit - supported by 1,120,000 people - the ruling party was appealing to the Constitutional Court, “which should decide who deserves what”.