An opposition-led protest march, “Georgia without Ivanishvili. Georgia deserves better,” took place in Tbilisi on October 25, launching a broader protest campaign to culminate in a larger demonstration on November 28 amid the ruling Georgian Dream party’s efforts to ban opposition parties through the Constitutional Court.
The demonstration, falling on the second anniversary of the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections, was organized by the Opposition Alliance, formed by nine political parties in March. The leaders invited protesters to join the campaign, which is set to lead to another rally on November 28, also the second anniversary of non-stop protests that erupted after the Georgian Dream’s announcement of suspending EU integration efforts.
The demonstrators set off from Tbilisi State University’s first building on Tbilisi’s Chavchavadze Avenue and marched down to Rustaveli Metro Station, where the politicians addressed the rally.
Among the speakers was Levan Tsutskiridze, leader of Freedom Square, a party not yet targeted in GD’s current opposition ban lawsuit, saying: “I would like to urge you to stand by the political parties because without the strengthening of the political parties it will be impossible to achieve the change we all want.”
In her speech, Tamar Chergoleishvili, leader of the Federalist Party that is included in the lawsuit, said: “Ivanishvili admits his crisis of legitimacy by banning the alternative. He admits that he no longer trusts the Georgian people, that he is afraid of the free choice of the Georgian people, and rightly so.”
Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia called the planned November 28 demonstration a “significant peak day”, adding: “We will fight every small battle, and we will win them all. In the courtroom, where this unequal battle resumes tomorrow, as well as on the streets and in the media, wherever we are granted access and wherever we happen to be, we must win everything, everywhere.”
Georgian Dream initially filed the constitutional lawsuit in October 2025, seeking to outlaw the United National Movement (UNM), Lelo/Strong Georgia, and Ahali/Coalition for Change. The lawsuit was subsequently expanded in April 2026 to include the Federalists and again in September to add For Georgia, the only opposition party still represented in Parliament. Each expansion required Georgian Dream to resubmit the lawsuit, resetting the court’s nine-month deadline to issue a ruling.
The Constitutional Court concluded the third day of hearings on October 23, rejecting every motion presented by opposition parties, including Coalition for Change, Lelo, and Gakharia’s for Georgia, with hearings expected to resume on October 26.
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