UNM opposition vows to continue fight amid party bans, parliamentary debates

Leaders of the United National Movement (UNM) and other opposition parties have vowed to continue their political struggle following moves to potentially dissolve or limit the activities of several parties.

Anna Tsitslidze, a UNM leader, on Monday said that the drive to abolish political parties was entirely unconstitutional. “No matter what the Constitutional Court decides, we will continue our struggle inside the country. How and in what form, society will see after the court’s ruling. Every member of the UNM is motivated to continue this fight. Abroad, we plan to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,” Tsitslidze said. She added that the ruling party, Georgian Dream, was unlikely to be affected by Strasbourg’s decision.

Levan Sanikidze, a fellow UNM leader, criticized the ruling party’s tactics and some opposition alignments, calling them strategic mistakes. He also expressed skepticism toward the Lelo party regarding its stance during critical political moments.

Meanwhile, the Gakharia-for-Georgia party announced that it plans to return to parliament, arguing that the previous boycott had not achieved its intended results. The party emphasized that legislative bodies were tools for serving the people and should not be controlled solely by Georgian Dream.

In parallel, Georgian Dream has indicated that it will soon submit a constitutional petition regarding the potential banning of several opposition parties, a move that has drawn criticism from opposition leaders and rights observers as a serious challenge to political pluralism.