TBILISI, December 4 – The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party confronted the liberal group in European politics Thursday, demanding that ALDE publicly distance itself from opposition politician Aleko Elisashvili.
The ultimatum follows Elisashvili’s arrest November 29 on charges of attempting a terrorist act, a case that has fueled intense discussions in Georgia’s divided political scene the last days.
Elisashvili, a former member of parliament associated with the Lelo coalition, was detained after he allegedly poured gasoline inside a government building and threatened to ignite it. Prosecutors classify the incident as an attempted terrorist act. The opposition counters that it was an act of desperate political protest.
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili seized on the arrest to put Europe on the defensive. He told reporters that Georgia would “wait until Monday” for ALDE and its member parties to say whether they reject Elisashvili and his actions. If they do not, Papuashvili warned that he would publicly refer to ALDE, Elisashvili’s own Citizens party, and the Strong Georgia bloc as “terrorist-harboring organizations.”
The political alliance at the center of the affair immediately rejected the framing. Lelo officials clarified that Elisashvili is not their party member, has never been listed in their internal ranks, and leads his own party Citizens, which is not an ALDE member. They accused the ruling party of twisting events into a fresh political weapon. They also pointed to Elisashvili’s own courtroom statement, where he called the incident a personal protest rather than a coordinated political action.
Even before the arrest, GD had already filed a case with the Constitutional Court seeking to ban three major opposition parties, including Lelo. Critics say the new ultimatum fits a broader pattern of using high-stakes rhetoric to portray opponents as national security threats.
The legal community is just as divided. Constitutional expert Vakhtang Khmaladze argued that categorizing Elisashvili’s behavior as terrorism is on shaky ground, saying that emotional or psychological distress can drive dramatic acts that are not intended to harm anyone. He added that Papuashvili’s ultimatum “has no basis in Georgian law” and should be viewed as political branding rather than something that could trigger real legal consequences.
Khmaladze also noted that GD often unveils new scandals or narratives at moments when other controversies are swirling, creating the impression that one story is being used to overshadow another.
Political analyst Petre Mamradze took the opposite view, insisting that Elisashvili’s actions inevitably stain the political groups associated with him. Even if the parties issue statements, Mamradze argued, “the label has already been attached” in the public mind. He added that stronger distancing from Lelo would have been wise, even though Elisashvili was never formally one of their members.
