Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili explains why their constitutional lawsuit does not include the “Gakharia – For Georgia” party.
As Papuashvili noted, the main legal line would have been election sabotage, but the “Gakharia – For Georgia” party retained its mandates and began parliamentary activities today.
“It concerns 3 parties, but at the same time, I pointed out that there are parties associated with these parties. However, one of the criteria established by international standards is that a party must not only violate the constitution through its behavior but also pose a real threat to the constitutional order. Therefore, at this stage, we do not have a claim regarding one-person and irrelevant parties.
As for the ‘Gakharia – For Georgia’ party, our request is based on two criteria: first, the substantiation of unconstitutionality, and second, the party’s relevance itself. In the case of the ‘Gakharia – For Georgia’ party, the main legal line would have been election sabotage; however, by retaining their mandates in a timely manner, announcing a few days ago that they would resume activities in Parliament, and resuming them today, they have also freed themselves from this argument,” Papuashvili stated.
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili also stated that the “Gakharia – For Georgia” party has “legally maneuvered itself.”
“One of the main substantiations, for example, regarding ‘Lelo,’ is that they participated in election sabotage and non-recognition of elections, and today they have annulled their mandates. Therefore, this legal line does not apply to the ‘Gakharia – For Georgia’ party for two reasons. True, they did not participate, but they retained their mandates; however, ultimately, they resumed active work in Parliament and maneuvered themselves legally. There are two processes: one is the temporary investigative commission of the Georgian Parliament, which prepared a 500-page document on which a resolution has also been prepared, and which gave a political assessment to various issues. Regarding the constitutional lawsuit, we adopted a resolution based on that report, and Parliament gave its political assessment to everyone’s behavior, including Gakharia’s party and others. Now we are moving to legal assessment. Here, it is important to have evidence and solid legal arguments for the Constitutional Court to accept them. Where we had evidence and solid legal arguments, we are appealing regarding those parties,” Shalva Papuashvili stated.
For reference, “Georgian Dream” is appealing to the Constitutional Court to ban 3 parties. According to Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, the constitutional lawsuit prepared by the ruling party requests the declaration as unconstitutional and banning of the following parties: “National Movement,” “Coalition for Change,” and “Strong Georgia – Lelo.”
Shalva Papuashvili explains why “Georgian Dream’s” constitutional lawsuit on banning political activity does not include Giorgi Gakharia’s party
