Ruling party nominates candidates for parliamentary posts after several MPs quit the party
MP Giorgi Volski is expected to become the first vice-parliament speaker. Photo: news.ge.
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The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has nominated candidates for parliamentary posts after 12 of its MPs left the party in the wake of the rejection of the GD-proposed election bill on November 14.
Giorgi (Gia) Volski has been nominated for the first vice–speaker to replace Tamar Chugoshvili in the role.
Mamuka Mdinaradze has been nominated as vice-speaker. He will also head the ruling party majority in parliament.
Giorgi Kakhiani, who previously chaired the parliament’s Procedural Issues Committee, has been nominated for the third vice-parliament speaker.
Kakha Kuchava has been nominated fourth vice-speaker.
As for the committees, majoritarian MP Irakli Beraia, who previously served as the deputy head of parliament’s Defence and Security Committee, has been nominated for the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
David Songulashvili is expected to head the Euro Integration Committee in the legislative body, while Guram Macharashvili is likely to become the deputy head of parliament’s Education, Science and Culture Committee.
Nino Tsilosani has been nominated to chair parliament's Environmental Protection Committee.
The candidates are expected to be voted on tomorrow in parliament.
Sophio Katsarava, the former chairperson of the foreign relations committee of the parliament of Georgia has resigned as MP. “Today I have made a very difficult decision, however, from my viewpoint, this is the only right decision”, she announced on Facebook.
Three MPs of the Conservative party have left the Georgian Dream ruling party after the parliament rejected the ruling party proposed election bill yesterday on the transition to a fully proportional electoral system from 2020.
Giorgi Begadze is the ninth MP to leave the Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party after the recent rejection of the GD-proposed election bill. Begadze is the majoritarian MP of the ruling party in Rustavi, a town close to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
Vice Parliament Speaker of Georgia Tamar Chugoshvili, MPs Irina Pruidze, Giorgi Mosidze, Dimitri Tskitishvili, Tamar Khulordava, Sophio Katsarava and Zaza Khutsishvili have left the Georgian Dream ruling party after the party proposed election bill was scrapped earlier today. The bill which offered the conduct of 2020 parliamentary elections with a fully proportional voting system and a zero threshold has been voted for by 101 MPs instead of mandatory 113 earlier today.
Representatives of opposition parties and civic activists have resumed demonstrations in downtown Tbilisi aimed to re-block the parliament of Georgia and prevent legislators enter the building tomorrow.
The BBC, Washington Post and Deutsche Welle have released news on the ongoing Tbilisi protests which were sparked after the rejection of the election reform bill on November 14.BBC has cited campaigners as saying that the current, mixed-electoral system in Georgia favours the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power since 2012.