Ruling party Executive Secretary claims opposition UNM and allies will be barred from local elections

Mamuka Mdinaradze, Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream and leader of the parliamentary majority, announced that the United National Movement (UNM) and its allied parties will be unable to participate in the upcoming local elections.

Speaking at a press briefing in Parliament, Mdinaradze stated that the findings of the Temporary Investigative Commission would serve as a solid legal basis for declaring these parties unconstitutional. He asserted that UNM and its affiliates would be banned not only from local elections but from all future elections in Georgia.

Mdinaradze accused the opposition of being influenced by foreign backers and insisted that the Georgian state and constitutional order would prevent their participation. He expressed confidence that the Constitutional Court would uphold the commission’s conclusions, leading to UNM’s designation as an unconstitutional entity.

“These anti-Georgian, unconstitutional, and criminal parties will be declared illegal and prohibited from political activity,” Mdinaradze declared, reinforcing Georgian Dream’s long-standing efforts to eliminate UNM from the political landscape.

The mentioned Temporary Investigative Commission was proposed by Georgian Dream on January 9, 2025, to examine alleged human rights abuses, business intimidation, media takeovers, and crimes related to the 2008 Russia-Georgia war under the previous UNM government. Officially established on February 5 with an 83-member majority vote, the commission operates for three months and is chaired by former Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani. It consists of eight members, including five from Georgian Dream, with opposition seats held by People’s Power and European Socialists representatives.

So far, the commission has referred cases of three politicians, who failed to appear at the summons, to the Prosecutor’s Office for launching an investigation.