Papuashvili Wants Opposition Parties to Take Part in Constitutional Court Hearings

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili says he would like opposition parties to take part in Constitutional Court hearings so that the Georgian people can directly see the exposure of their "treacherous activities". He made the statement to journalists regarding the lawsuit related to the process of banning parties.

Papuashvili hopes that the Constitutional Court will take into account the argument of "Georgian Dream", with which the ruling party seeks the ban of five opposition parties.

"What mood should people have who betray their own country and constitution, and who know that all political charges concerning the violation of the constitution will be presented to them in court? That is why I would like everyone to take part so that the Georgian people can directly see the exposure of their treacherous activities in the Constitutional Court. It is important to fully activate the principle of militant democracy so that Georgia is freed from political groups that, through extremism, radicalism and the rejection of elections, seek to disrupt Georgia and drag it back to the 1990s. The processes are ahead, we will present our arguments, and we hope that the Constitutional Court will accept these arguments," Papuashvili said.

Regarding the statement of "Lelo", in which the party calls for an international community response to the process, Papuashvili said that by doing so they are "hiding behind their patrons".

"It is clear, they are again going to their patrons so that they can take shelter, it is clear! Where is the chairman of "Lelo", Khazaradze, today? Abroad. Where is Gakharia? Abroad. Where is Vashadze? Abroad. All of them are not in their own homeland, but are under the protection of their patrons. Where will Saakashvili be forced to flee? Abroad. This is the trial of the century, which shows the great shame that society, unfortunately, endured for years, when foreign agents were active in Georgia, replacing the will of the Georgian people with the will of foreign peoples and governments. We endured all this because there was significant pressure from outside on Georgia and there was no resource for the Georgian government to resist this pressure. Today this moment has come. We will not allow the agenda of foreign governments to be carried out in Georgia, as "Lelo", Gvaramia, or others who carry out the hostile agenda of foreign countries in Georgia are doing," Papuashvili said.

The Constitutional Court will begin hearing the lawsuit on banning five opposition parties on October 21. The plaintiff is "Georgian Dream".