Georgia’s ruling party MP says opposition’s violent goals led to constitutional lawsuit revision

Aluda Ghudushauri, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the opposition has a declared goal of changing the government through violent means, adding that this prompted the ruling party to amend its constitutional lawsuit.

The ruling Georgian Dream party is withdrawing its original constitutional lawsuit and replacing it with an updated version aimed at banning political parties deemed “unconstitutional”. The revised lawsuit expands the list of targeted groups to include the Federalist party, joining three other major opposition entities: the United National Movement (UNM), the Coalition for Change, and Lelo.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Ghudushauri dismissed speculations that the decision was tied to the protests announced for May 26. Instead, he framed the move as a direct response to the opposition's alleged intent to seize power through undemocratic means.

He further asserted that the decision to include the Federalists stems from their public alignment with other radical opposition groups. He claimed these groups aim to bypass the will of the Georgian people and overthrow the government via violence.

“We act according to the agenda of the Georgian people and our state, while they act on external orders and others’ agendas. Their agenda clearly diverges from that of the Georgian people and the state. Our goal and our steps stem only from concrete facts. The complaint was amended and the Federalists were added because they openly joined the declared intention of coming to power through violent means”, Ghudushauri said.

He added that, in his view, when a political group publicly declares such a goal and participates in promoting it, the appropriate step is to let the matter be reviewed in court. Ghudushauri said the ruling party believes the court process will allow the public to see what he described as the opposition’s declared objectives.

“The facts on our side are their publicly stated goals that the government should be changed by violent means,” he said. “When you join this and take part in it, it is clear that we must amend the complaint and add the political party that openly shares these intentions”.