The Georgian Parliament has unanimously approved, with 80 votes, a legislative package in its first reading that will bar specific individuals from engaging in political party activities, holding public office, or participating in elections.
The bill, initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party, was adopted under an expedited procedure following its review by the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee.
According to the proposed amendments, if the Constitutional Court rules to ban a political party, its members and associated individuals will lose their passive electoral rights — meaning they will be prohibited from being elected to Parliament or municipal bodies. In addition, they will be barred from holding leadership positions in constitutional bodies, joining or funding other political parties, and acting as party donors.
Parties that include such individuals in their ranks will face criminal penalties, including fines.
Archil Gorduladze, Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, stated that once the amendments are enacted, the Georgian Dream parliamentary team will appeal to the Constitutional Court to initiate the banning of certain political parties and the restriction of related individual rights.
Gorduladze claimed: “this will put an end to the involvement of agents in politics.”
He also claimed that the legislative initiative fully complies with the Georgian Constitution and aligns with the practices of the European Court of Human Rights. Gorduladze noted that several European countries have banned political parties and restricted the political rights of their members.
“We see that from 2003 to the present day, certain parties—essentially one party operating under different names, symbols, and colors—meet all the grounds for prohibition stipulated in the Constitution. Even setting everything else aside, the events of October 4 alone are sufficient to justify banning specific parties. The harmful actions committed by the ‘Collective National Movement’ against Georgia are evident both in the conclusions of investigative commissions and are well known to the public. Therefore, for the tenth time, Georgian society and the Georgian people are rejecting the return of the ‘National Agents’ to power,” Gorduladze said.
The Georgian Dream initiative includes amendments to the Organic Law on the Constitutional Court of Georgia, the Organic Law on Political Associations of Citizens, the Election Code, and the Criminal Code.
The final adoption of the legislative package, in its second and third readings, is expected within the current week.
