The Legal Issues Committee of the GD parliament approved in the first hearing the draft amendments to the laws on Political Unions of Citizens and amendments to the Organic Law of Georgia on the Constitutional Court of Georgia. The legislative package expands the Constitutional Court’s authority to ban political parties. The committee also approved amendments that would prohibit political parties from receiving any form of donation from Georgian or foreign legal entities unless prior approval is obtained from the GD government. Experts and civil society organizations have decried the changes as steps towards further consolidating the authoritarian system in the country.
The amendments essentially mean that the members of the outlawed parties will not be able to establish a new party in the future as well.
The law aims to ban political forces “whose activities, the personal composition of decision-makers, or statutory goals” are identical to those of “the collective UNM”, parliamentary majority leader Mamuka Mdinaradze had said earlier, when he announced the amendments, describing these political parties as “anti-Georgian, anti-constitutional, anti-national, and criminal.” As potential targets of the law, Mdinaradze identified the four main opposition political forces, which passed the threshold in the October 26, 2024 parliamentary elections.
According to the proposed amendment to the law on political unions, the Constitutional Court would be empowered to ban a party if its goals include overthrowing or violently altering the constitutional order, undermining the country’s independence, violating territorial integrity, engaging in war propaganda, inciting national, ethnic, religious, or social strife, creating or having created an armed formation.
The bill also authorizes the court to ban parties whose declared objectives or actual operations — including personnel and the composition of their party lists submitted to electoral commissions — substantially replicate the goals or conduct of previously banned parties.
The purpose of the amendment “is precisely the protection of democratic constitutional order,” claims the explanatory note attached to the bill.
The accompanying amendment to the Organic Law on the Constitutional Court of Georgia introduces specific deadlines for rulings on constitutional claims concerning political parties. The Constitutional Court would be required to issue a decision within nine months of a claim being filed. However, during the election period, in cases outlined in paragraph 2 of Article 36 of the Organic Law “On Political Unions of Citizens” — which refers to parties aiming to overthrow the constitutional order, threaten territorial integrity, incite strife, or replicate the structure of a previously banned party — the court must decide within 14 days.
According to the explanatory note, stricter deadlines are necessary given the “significant influence” political parties have on the country’s socio-political landscape.
Committee Advances Bill to Restrict Political Donations Without GD Approval
In addition to the party-ban amendments, the Legal Affairs Committee of the rump parliament advanced another legislative initiative that tightens regulations around political activities.
The bill, introduced by the GD MP Irakli Kirtskhalia, amends the Organic Law on Political Unions of Citizens to prohibit political parties or individuals with a “declared electoral goal” from receiving donations in the form of lectures, seminars, or other public events funded by legal entities – if those are funded by legal entities registered either in Georgia or abroad.
If enacted by its final reading, foreign grants will require prior approval “from the Government of Georgia or an authorized person/body designated by the government,” with monitoring handled by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. As explained by Kirtskhalia, unauthorized grants will incur a fine equal to double the amount received.
However, grants issued by international sports associations, federations, and committees, along with individual scholarships for general and higher education or scientific work, will be exempt from these requirements.
Kirtskhalia claimed that these amendments are necessary to prevent foreign and domestic entities from supporting “radical opposition’s anti-Georgian activities” under the guise of public outreach and framed the legislation as part of a broader effort to defend “state sovereignty, independence, and national identity” in a fraught geopolitical environment.
source: civil.ge
0 Comment