The National Movement (AND) is the largest of the four opposition groups, and Ivanishvili has called for it to be banned, along with any other member of the opposition who is considered an “enemy of the people and the country.”
Georgian Dream (Georgian Dream) has already advanced two major laws that have been widely criticized by the West. Earlier this month, the party’s speaker of parliament signed an anti-LGBT law in defiance of pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili, who refused to do so.
And in May, on the eve of mass protests in Freedom Square and the nearby parliament, a Russian-style “foreign agents” law was passed aimed at foreign funding of the media and civil rights groups.
Zurabishvili urged Georgians “not to be afraid”. Speaking on pro-opposition Formula TV, she said they should vote for the opposition parties, which have all signed up to the EU accession action plan.
Georgia has become so polarized that the major pro-government TV channels tell one story and the opposition tell another.
“Georgian Dream” claims that it is still on the way to join the EU. It even adapted the EU’s 12 gold stars into its own blue star logo, despite the EU freezing Georgia’s bid to join.
But one campaign poster is far more ominous, depicting six opposition leaders being held on a leash above the message: “No war, no agents.”
