True to a campaign promise made before Georgia’s contested October general election, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party is seeking to ban opposition parties based on the impending conclusions of a temporary parliamentary commission the party set up in February to investigate the alleged “crimes” of the previous government.

GD has said that the results of the commission’s investigations will be used as grounds upon which to file a lawsuit seeking to have the former ruling United National Movement (UNM) and its so-called “successor parties” declared unconstitutional.

“It is already evident that the final conclusion of the parliament temporary investigative commission will provide us with a solid basis to appeal to the Constitutional Court of Georgia regarding the unconstitutional status of the United National Movement and its satellite parties,” stated the head of the GD parliamentary majority Mamuka Mdinaradze on March 27 as reported by Interpress News.

According to GD, the 2003-12 UNM government was responsible for “monstrous crimes of the past” and, along with its “accomplices”, “act with hostile intent” toward Georgia and must be barred from the political arena.

In addition to the investigative commission to probe UNM’s activities, GD has introduced legislative changes which allow for the Constitutional Court to outlaw opposition parties deemed similar to those it previously banned.

The ruling party considers all major pro-Western opposition parties as satellites of UNM and refers to them collectively as the “collective National Movement”.

“We have already initiated a draft law concerning the unconstitutional status of the successor parties of these mentioned parties, in the case the essence of their establishment is identical to the nature, personnel composition, or statutory goals of the collective United National Movement,” Mdinaradze declared.

In other words, should the bill be adopted, GD will be able to request the banning of both existing opposition parties but also those that may form in future if they are deemed to be successors of those parties already banned.

The vow to petition the Constitutional Court to ban the so-called “collective UNM” was one of GD’s main campaign pillars in the run up to Georgia’s October 26 parliamentary election, which GD is widely accused of rigging.

If declared unconstitutional, UNM and its so-called satellites will be barred from participating in Georgia’s autumn 2025 local elections.

“These parties will be declared anti-Georgian, anti-constitutional and criminal — and their activities banned,” Mdinaradze stated.

Commission to probe former UNM government

In February GD announced the establishment of an temporary investigative parliamentary commission to review the activities of the 2003-12 United National Movement government under ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.

The ruling party accuses UNM officials, and specifically Saakashvili, of “systemic crimes” throughout their tenure, including provoking Georgia’s disastrous war with Russia in 2008.

On April 1, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze noted that, due to UNM’s “reckless policies”, Georgia had “lost territories, peaceful civilians, and heroic soldiers”.

Such claims have sparked outrage amongst many active and former military personnel, police officers and families of fallen soldiers, who oppose claims that Georgia started the war and view Russia as the aggressor.

As reported by InterpressNews, GD recently expanded the mandate of the temporary commission to encompass the entire period from the start of Saakashvili’s rule in 2003 up to the present day.

Mdinaradze explained that this decision was made “in order to ensure that the scope of the commission’s activities is not limited to the investigation of anti-state and criminal acts committed before 2012”.

The commission works by summoning officials of the former government for questioning.

Leaders of the Strong Georgia opposition coalition Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze were summoned to a commission hearing on March 25 regarding their alleged roles in business racketeering under the UNM government.

Khazaradze announced his refusal to attend via Facebook, describing the commission as a “circus”, “propaganda” and “comical”.

Japaridze also failed to attend the commission session.

In response, commission chair Tea Tsulukiani announced that the commission had submitted a request to the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office to charge Khazaradze and Japaridze in light of their failure to attend despite having been summoned.

Tsulukiani claimed that refusing to appear before the commission without a valid reason is a criminal offence punishable by one year in jail as per Article 349 of Georgia’s criminal code.

On March 26, the Prosecutor’s Office launched a criminal investigation under Article 349 against Khazaradze, granting the commission’s request to probe the politician’s non-attendance.

If found guilty, Khazaradze could be fined or imprisoned for a year, and also be subject to a three-year ban on holding public office.

On April 2, Khazaradze was granted a GEL50,000 (roughly $18,200) bail as a preventive measure by Tbilisi City Court judge Arsen Kalatozishvili, according to local outlets.

The deadline for submitting bail was set at 30 days, though the defendant has not confirmed whether he intends to pay, Interpress News reported.

“I do not recognize an illegitimate parliament and the commission it has created … This is my unwavering protest, and this protest will be solid. No decision can change this belief of mine,” Khazaradze informed reporters following the hearing, as cited by Civil.ge. 

On April 1, Badri Japaridze publicly announced on Facebook that he had been summoned to the Prosecutor's Office as part of what he described as a "baseless investigation launched on the basis of the so-called Parliamentary Temporary Investigative Commission”.

Japaridze stated that, instead of appearing at the Prosecutor's Office, he would testify in court accompanied by his lawyer, as per his right under Article 113 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia.

The following day, during his questioning before a magistrate judge at Tbilisi City Court, Japaridze stated that he does “not intend to attend the session of the so-called investigative commission of the illegitimate parliament” and described the commission as an “instrument of the Russian government for blackening opponents”.

“I have not violated any law, as [the commission] is illegitimate,” Japaridze declared, describing an “unprecedented situation when all institutions used for retaliation against opponents have been seized, and these institutions will carry out all instructions”.

Like all Georgia’s pro-Western opposition figures, Japaridze has refused to recognise the legitimacy of the ruling Georgian Dream party since its re-election in disputed October election.

Alongside Khazaradze and Japaridze’s Strong Georgia, other opposition blocs have publicly announced their refusal to attend commission sessions.

In a Facebook post on March 25, Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia described the commission as “illegitimate and illegal, just like the parliament of Georgia”.

The opposition politician said that the goal of the commission was to “divert attention from the most serious political crisis in the country to Russian propaganda topics, which is not in the interest of us, the citizens of Georgia, but only of the Russian oligarch [in reference to GD founder Bidzina Ivanishvili]”.

“We are not going to give the oligarch the opportunity to do this,” the opposition politician continued, and pledged his party’s support for Khazaradze and Japaridze.

According to Civil.ge, Gvaramia and fellow C4C leaders Nika Melia and Jurab Japaridze were also summoned by the commission, though none are expected to participate.

The Prosecutor General’s Office also launched an investigation into former defence minister Irakli Okruashvili for his failure to appear before the investigative commission.

Okruashvili served in several posts under Saakashvili including defence minister, interior minister, and minister of economic development.

The GD parliament stated that the former UNM official was due to appear before the commission on March 27 for discussions surrounding the 2008 Russo-Georgian war.

Investigations on this topic continued into March 28, when the commission summoned and questioned two military officials about the 2008 war – the then-chief of the general staff, General Zaza Gogava, and then-head of the Peacekeeping Operations Headquarters, General Mamuka Kurashvili.

The commission’s interrogation of the officials, particularly Tsulukiani’s choice of questions and accusatory tone, sparked outrage among GD critics, family members of soldiers who lost their lives in the conflict, and current and former military personnel.

A protest sprung outside the Georgian parliament building where the case was taking place. Demonstrators brought signs with slogans such as “Traitors cannot prosecute heroes” and “A country that has fought will not apologise”.