Bokeria: Georgian Dream Is Trying to Eliminate Political Choice
By Messenger Staff
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Federalists leader Giga Bokeria accused Georgian Dream of trying to eliminate political competition and keep power in the hands of party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, speaking after a meeting with the ambassadors of the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
Bokeria said Western diplomats had good reason to be concerned as the ruling party pursues a Constitutional Court case to ban five opposition parties.
"There is nothing unexpected in the fact that representatives of the free world are interested in what is happening inside the country when Ivanishvili's regime publicly declares that it is acting against the free world and is banning political choice for citizens," he told journalists.
He said the issue was not simply whether particular opposition parties would be banned, but whether Georgian citizens would retain the right to choose their political representatives.
According to Bokeria, Georgian Dream was restricting that choice to stay in power and continue enriching itself, putting the country's future at risk.
He also rejected the Foreign Ministry's accusations that EU representatives were interfering in Georgia's internal affairs by criticizing the opposition ban proceedings.
Bokeria argued that the government was wrong to treat Western criticism as interference while failing to recognize Russia and Iran as threats to Georgia.
"For Ivanishvili's regime, interference and aggression is not what Georgia's enemies, Russia or the regime of the ayatollahs, are doing on the territory of our country," he said, claiming that the ruling party regarded those countries as allies because their relationship helped it retain power.
Bokeria said Georgia's national interests required protecting the country from hostile foreign influence and maintaining its sovereignty. He added that he expected Western countries to continue supporting Georgian society's efforts to defend democratic choice and statehood.
