Ruling Georgian Dream party clarifies why it needs to secure constitutional majority in upcoming parliamentary elections

The Political Council of the ruling Georgian Dream party on Tuesday released a statement, which clarified why the ruling party needed to secure a constitutional majority in the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26.

“The parliamentary elections of 2024 are a kind of referendum, where the Georgian people must finally decide whether they choose war or peace, moral degradation or traditional values, Georgia's slavish dependence on external forces or an independent and sovereign state, the collective National Movement or the Georgian Dream.

Once the Georgian Dream has secured parliamentary majority, the short-term, four-year objective – the victory of peace, traditional values, and the idea of state sovereignty in Georgia – will have been successfully achieved.

However, in addition to this immediate objective, we also have the long-term objective to ensure durable, sustainable peace and security for Georgia, which requires the Georgian Dream obtaining a high constitutional majority.

Realising our responsibility to the Georgian people, we consider it our duty to clarify why we need a constitutional majority:

1. First of all, we require a constitutional majority in order to qualitatively improve the political system, which cannot be achieved without first removing the collective National Movement from politics. Immediately upon obtaining a constitutional majority, we will initiate legal proceedings that will declare the United National Movement and all its satellite and successor parties as unconstitutional.

Although 12 years have passed since the criminal regime was removed from power, it has yet to be prosecuted, which has its own objective reasons. First and foremost, the non-prosecution of the criminals was demanded by their foreign protectors, which created a major obstacle to putting the regime on trial.

Nevertheless, we were able to prosecute dozens of high-, middle-, and low-ranking regime officials, including the former president, the former prime minister, former ministers and other top officials for specific, serious crimes. The corresponding rulings as a whole have created a solid basis over the years for prosecuting the regime. We would also like to remind you that proceedings have been underway in The Hague and Strasbourg during the past years, which concluded with the victory of Georgia and the Georgian Army as a result of the Georgian Dream’s efforts. In light of the proceedings in The Hague and Strasbourg, the investigation of the crime of 2008 was associated with significant risks that have now been fully resolved. Most importantly, instead of repenting the crime of 2008, after the start of the war in Ukraine, the collective National Movement has once again tried to drag Georgia into a war, and it persists in this attempt to this day. Against this backdrop, the prosecution of this criminal force has attained special relevance today.

The collective National Movement still has powerful external protectors. These are the forces that provided the local and international coordination of all the campaigns waged against Georgia, including the second front campaign. We must show these forces that the removal of the collective National Movement from the political system is the decision of the largest, constitutional majority of the Georgian people. The October elections must become a political verdict akin to that of Nuremberg for the National Movement, which will create a solid foundation for the relevant legal process. Considering the external factors, it is essential for the Georgian Dream to obtain a constitutional majority in order to prosecute the National Movement.

Given the numerous crimes committed by the National Movement against the Georgian state and the Georgian people, we cannot allow it to continue to fulfil foreign objectives and cause permanent damage to the state. Even the theoretical possibility of the political force responsible for the crime of 2008 returning to power is unacceptable, especially given the challenges facing Georgia in light of the armed conflicts underway in the region. Since the role of the opposition in the country is played by the collective National Movement, a criminal group under external control, the state is forced to walk on a minefield, which makes losing the country a constant possibility.

We all remember the attempted coup that followed the dubious verdict in the Khorava Street murder case. The judge, who still enjoys questionable privileges from foreigners, did not take into account the charges brought by the Prosecutor’s Office and issued an incomprehensible verdict, which caused public indignation. However, the opposition and the NGOs raised the issue of the responsibility of the Prosecutor’s Office, rather than the judge. Furthermore, the protest developed into revolutionary processes. At the time, the public found it difficult to understand who planned and coordinated the relevant processes, and for what purpose. Fortunately, all this took place long before the elections, rather than during the pre-election period. Otherwise, all this could have had a tragic ending, and the artificially driven scenario could have resulted in the agents’ return to power. It took the public months to realise that the government was not at fault. This example best illustrates the risks that may have been associated with the implementation of such a scenario against the backdrop of artificially fueled polarisation.

During all these years, full-fledged elections have not been held in Georgia. In a healthy democratic system, the public should have a choice between good and better. Meanwhile, in the Georgian reality, on the one side is the Georgian Dream, which is trying to preserve statehood, while on the other is the collective National Movement, which is fully under external control and is engaged in constant hostility to the state. When one political force retains power for more than three terms, it casts a shadow over the democratic process. In a healthy democratic system, superior political forces should periodically replace each other, which is impossible in today’s situation. Georgia will be able to hold full-fledged elections only once healthy opposition forces have replaced the collective National Movement in the political system.

It is our duty to the Georgian state to forever change this unhealthy state of the political system and to establish an institutionalised party system, which is an essential condition for the operation of a full-fledged democratic system.

A country cannot perpetually exist in a state of revolution and continual attempts to sow unrest, and we cannot sit back and wait for the explosion of the timebomb that is the radicalism and polarisation, enforced from the outside with the help of the collective National Movement. That is precisely why declaring the collective National Movement as unconstitutional is an essential condition for the establishment of long-term peace and proper, democratic public institutions in Georgia.

2. The draft constitutional law “On Family Values and the Protection of Minors” has already been initiated in the Parliament of Georgia. The spread of pseudo-liberal ideology in Georgia and the world is becoming increasingly dangerous. The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which contained extremely crude and outrageous examples of blasphemy, insulting the religious sentiments of Christians, and LGBT propaganda, reminded us once again of the scale of the danger associated with the spread of pseudo-liberal ideology.

This ideology has nothing to do with the protection of human rights – its only goal is to cause people to become completely devoid of dignity, morality, and any kind of identity. A person should not even know for sure whether he is a man or a woman. A person should not know his roots or the history of his country; he should not have a national, religious, or personal identity. The objective of pseudo-liberal ideology is to produce slaves of the lowest grade that can be easily manipulated.

Obtaining the constitutional majority will enable the Georgian Dream to adopt the aforementioned draft constitutional law, which will strengthen the protection of family values and minors at the highest, constitutional level.

After the adoption of the constitutional law, no one will ever be able to force us to legalise the so-called civil unions of same-sex couples, child adoption by same-sex couples, gender reassignment surgeries, the legal identification of so-called genders other than male and female, the propaganda of pseudo-liberal ideology in educational institutions and the mass media, and other failings that have already led to dire consequences in many countries.

3. One of the most important national objectives is the restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity. The peaceful restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity will necessitate the amendment of the Constitution of Georgia in order to bring Georgia’s system of governance and the territorial organisation of the state in line with the new reality. Given the dynamic unfolding of events around Georgia, we should be in constant readiness for such a situation. Considering the opposition’s anti-state approaches, it can be said with certainty that they will pursue their external objectives even under such circumstances and will surely oppose the constitutional amendments necessary for the restoration of territorial integrity. Accordingly, the Georgian Dream requires a constitutional majority to rule out, if necessary, the obstruction of the required constitutional amendments.

4. There is another, fourth issue, whose constitutional regulation can be of great importance in terms of the protection of Georgia’s identity and national values. However, consultations on this issue are ongoing and we will probably be able to state our position by the end of the month.

The resolution of the aforementioned strategic objectives is of key importance for Georgia’s long-term stable development. However, there is also another, no less important issue – in fact, it is of even greater importance, and its resolution requires the attainment of constitutional majority by the Georgian Dream. Even now, Georgia is facing the immediate threat of war. Avoiding it is the primary objective in the short term. One small mistake or misstep is enough for us to lose the country altogether, at which point nothing will matter anymore, least of all the constitutional amendments. Now that the war in the region is in its final months, the Georgian public must mobilize as much as possible in order for us not to lose the peace that has been maintained with great efforts and to prevent the destruction and devastation of the country. The most important thing now is to somehow retain the country during these few months; afterwards, nothing will be able to stand in the way of unimpeded development.

Had the stay-at-home or opposition voters of 2020 or 2021 prevailed, today Georgia would be in a worse position than Ukraine, and we would no longer have a country. In the future, we must not allow even the theoretical possibility of this kind of risk.

The greater the electoral support of the Georgian Dream, the less tempted Georgia’s ill-wishers will be to once again attempt to destabilise the country, return the agents – or the local War Party – to power, and open a second front in Georgia. The greater the electoral support of the Georgian Dream, the more peaceful November, December, and the next four years will be. The greater the support of the Georgian Dream, the fewer obstacles there will be to the country’s overall progress and economic development.

Correspondingly, our country’s number one objective is to bolster peace as much as possible during these elections. In this context, each voter’s vote carries special significance. Moreover, peace in our country will be strengthened in direct proportion to the percentage of votes received by the Georgian Dream.

Additionally, the more votes Georgian Dream receives, the faster and more effectively Georgia’s relations with the United States and the European Union will be reset, and the more securely Georgia’s national interests will be protected on the international stage.

Accordingly, we need everyone’s help to eliminate even the theoretical risk of losing the country and to ensure that Georgia strengthens its position in international politics as much as possible. Each vote for the Georgian Dream means a firmer guarantee of peace, stability, and development for Georgia.

We urge all our fellow citizens who value peace, stability, and traditional values in Georgia to come out on 26 October and create a solid foundation to protect Georgia’s national identity and ensure a bright future for our country. Those of you who cherish our country – put everything aside and come to the elections; set all narrow political issues aside because it is the country’s survival, rather than mere politics, that is at stake in these elections. Everything is in our hands; Georgia’s fate is in our hands, and we must do everything to save this country and leave a free, independent, united, and strong Georgia for the next generation to govern”, the ruling party said.