Czech MEP Marketa Gregorova, a member of Greens/European Free Alliance, says Georgian Dream’s promise that it will ban the opposition parties is against the principles of democracy and will result in de facto state capture.
Gregorova emphasized the need to hold fair and free parliamentary elections in Georgia, otherwise, she said, they could not rule out the imposition of the same sanctions on Georgia as happened in the case of Belarus.
She claimed that the European Union has a system of levers, a large number of which have yet to be used.
“Discussions on the accession have been stopped, despite the fact that Georgia was granted candidate status. The EU cannot now implement individual sanctions, as this is up to member states, including the US. There are some member states that are certainly interested,” Gregorova told journalists at the 8th Tbilisi International Conference.
She noted her belief that Georgian Dream is hoping for Russia to win the war in Ukraine.
“At the Conference, it was suggested that Georgian Dream never really changed its course, that they were like this from the beginning. I agree. I’ve been watching Georgia for the last 6 years, and I know that this criticism [of undemocraticness] is not new. In a normal democracy, if you said you wanted to ban opposition parties, and you said it before the elections, you would not be elected. No one would vote for a party intent on destroying democracy.
“I think this strategy will lead to Georgian Dream losing the elections. It’s good for democracy, but it’s surprising from a party intent on winning. In my opinion, they assume that in the coming months, Russia will win the war in Ukraine, and they want to be on the winning side. We will not allow this – Ukraine must win,” she said.
Georgian Dream makes a pre-election promise that if it gains a constitutional majority at the October 26th elections, it will ban almost all those opposition parties which, based on the recent polls, have a chance to enter the next parliament.
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