Georgia ’s ruling party announced on Tuesday that it will petition the Constitutional Court to outlaw the country’s three largest opposition parties, according to the speaker of parliament.

The decision marks a dramatic escalation in Georgia’s growing authoritarian turn and poses a serious challenge to its standing as a candidate for European Union membership.

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.

The three parties, which are all strongly pro-Western, pose “a real threat to the constitutional order”, Georgia’s Interpress news agency quoted him as saying.

Irakli Kupradze, a senior mem

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