Khvedelidze: Banning Parties Moves Country into Declared Dictatorship

Tata Khvedelidze, a member of the party Gakharia for Georgia and a deputy, described the constitutional lawsuit as persecution of dissent in an appearance on the Palitranius program "360 Degrees". According to him, this process does not simply mean the abolition of one or several parties; it is the declaration of dissenting opinion as unconstitutional.

Khvedelidze said that Archil Gorduladze, who speaks on the lawsuit at the Constitutional Court, is in fact a "criminal defendant" because "he used violence against members of parliament live on air in front of all of Georgia".

"Four days later, we still do not know what charges have been brought against whom, who the claims and accusations are directed at. Archil Gorduladze, a person who is a criminal defendant because we saw live on air, in front of all of Georgia, how he used violence against members of parliament, this person today represents "Georgian Dream", this person speaks to us about some laws, a lawsuit, and speaks to us about the fact that we are to blame regarding October 4, when all media will have plenty of videos in which our clear opinion on October 4 is expressed, where we say that October 4 is a provocation. October 4 was unacceptable to us, any violence was unacceptable, and we did not believe in any peaceful overthrow", said Khvedelidze.

According to him, the party Gakharia for Georgia was included in the list of parties subject to banning "out of revenge" against Giorgi Gakharia and aims to make Gakharia stop his political activity. In Khvedelidze's assessment, the banning of parties will have extremely grave consequences for everyone involved in this process.

"I believe that with the decision to abolish parties, our country is moving into a new space. This is a very damaging space for our country and our citizens. This is effectively the establishment and confirmation of dictatorship. An authoritarian regime still retained signs that the situation could change, but based on these processes, dictatorship will be confirmed and declared. Accordingly, this will have very grave consequences. Also, it will have extremely grave consequences personally for all those who are involved in this process, primarily for the deputies and judges", said Khvedelidze.