The ruling Georgian Dream party has announced plans to request in October that the Constitutional Court outlaw the country’s major opposition groups, including the formerly ruling United National Movement (UNM) and several of its alleged “satellites.”
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze defended the move as a “democratic process,” citing the conclusions of a parliamentary commission created earlier this year to investigate the opposition. The commission’s 470-page report accused the UNM of systemic abuses during its time in power and linked other opposition parties—including former Georgian Dream PM Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party and former UNM leader Nika Melia’s Ahali party—to its legacy.
The report also claimed that the ‘radical opposition’—a term the ruling party uses to describe Georgia’s pro-Western opposition parties—has, since 2012, “been a decisive obstacle to the establishment of a healthy political system in Georgia.”
The move comes amid growing tensions with Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the United Nations General Assembly that “We have already lost Georgia in Europe,” accusing Tbilisi of drifting into Moscow’s orbit. Georgian Dream officials hit back sharply, with senior MPs calling Zelensky a “puppet” and urging him to “wash his mouth” before criticizing their country.
PM Kobakhidze claimed
Georgia is the unquestioned leader among European Union candidate countries, including in terms of democracy and human rights.
Parliamentary speaker Shalva Papuashvili went a step further, arguing that Zelensky should call elections to allow the Ukrainian people to hold him accountable.
Tbilisi has also pushed back against the EU itself. After Brussels suspended visa-free travel for Georgian diplomats, Kobakhidze insisted the measures would boost the economy rather than harm it. Georgian Dream leaders say they will not bow to EU demands to withdraw pro-family laws, which infuriate Brussels.
