Georgia's ruling party will ask court to ban three largest opposition parties

Supporters of jailed Georgia's ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili gather in tents outside the office of United National Movement (UNM) party in Tbilisi, Georgia December 22, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze

TBILISI (Reuters) -Georgia's ruling party will ask the Constitutional Court to ban the three largest opposition parties, the speaker of parliament said on Tuesday, in what would mark a sharp escalation in the drift towards authoritarian rule in the EU candidate nation.

Shalva Papuashvili, a senior member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said the lawsuit would aim to outlaw three parties - the Coalition for Change, ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement, and the Strong Georgia bloc.