Georgia goes ‘North Korea’ with bombshell plan to ban main opposition parties

That comes days after the ruling Georgian Dream party threatened to dissolve the largest opposition grouping in parliament, the United National Movement (UNM) which was founded by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

In addition to the UNM, the other pro-Western factions with seats in parliament face being shuttered, Kobakhidze said, because “in reality, all of these are one political force.” Any MPs elected on their platforms, he said, would be barred from taking up office.

“I believe that abolishing [parliamentary] mandates will be the logical continuation of outlawing these parties. Criminal members of the criminal political forces shouldn’t exercise the status such as that of a member of Georgia parliament,” said Kobakhidze.

Georgian Dream has faced widespread street protests in recent months over its introduction of a Russian-style law that brands Western-backed NGOs and media outlets as “foreign agents.” | Vano Shlamov/AFP via Getty Images

POLITICO approached the European Commission for comment on Kobakhidze’s plans, which he claims will not stand in the way of joining the EU, but did not receive an immediate response.

“This will effectively ban all opposition that Georgian Dream sees as a threat,” said Tinatin Akhvlediani, a researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies. “The only parallels for this kind of thing are Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, or North Korea — it would be the end of Georgia’s democracy.”

Opposition parties have sought to join forces ahead of the vote to defeat Georgian Dream, which has faced widespread street protests in recent months over its introduction of a Russian-style law that brands Western-backed NGOs and media outlets as “foreign agents.”