Tbilisi Parliament building may become Kutaisi’s property

Ownership of the old Parliament building in Tbilisi may be handed to Kutaisi. The territory where the historic building is located may also become the property of Kutaisi.  

This idea was considered by the parliamentary majority as a way to bring the Georgian Parliament back to Tbilisi from its current home in Kutaisi, Georgias second largest city.

Historical building of the Parliament in Tbilisi is in the renovation process now. According to the changes in the Georgian Constitution, the Parliament moved to new building in Kutaisi in May 2012. Saakashvilis government planned to sale the old building in Tbilisi but an investor was not found. A lot of the things in old building during were lost and ruined during 2012.  The  famous Vorontsov candelabra was stolen and is not found yet. (See what is going on inside the old building of the Parliament in Tbilisi "In pictures.")

Zurab Tkemaladze, chairperson of the Parliament field economy and economic policy and the author of this idea, said Kutaisi was determined as the only location of Parliament by changes carried out in the Georgian Constitution by the previous government.

Tkemaladze suggested this method in order to return Parliament to Tbilisi without violating the law.

"There are many examples, such as embassies, when you cross the threshold youre on the territory of a different country, Tkemaladze said.

"In this example, the building in Tbilisi may be classified as property of Kutaisi local government and one hectare of land where the building is located is the territory of Kutaisi and as soon as we enter it, we enter Kutaisi, he said.

The parliament minority said they did not take this suggestion seriously.

"I hope this is Tkemaladzes New Years joke, MP Giorgi Tevdoradze said.

The Georgian constitution says that the location of Parliament is only allowed to be changed temporarily in a state of emergency or at a time of war.  

The ruling majority have been trying to remove this article from the Constitution for more than a year although a lack of votes meant this did not happen.

Meanwhile, some of the inventory has already been moved to Tbilisi from Kutaisi. A tender to purchase part of the furniture and the building is expected to be ready by March 2014.

The ruling majority said Parliament would be held in Tbilisi and Kutaisi. MPs will only visit Kutaisi for the plenary sessions as the committee sessions will be held in Tbilisi.

Davit Usupashvili, the Parliament Chairperson, said they would not violate the constitution but they would not be held "hostage to the whim of the National Movement either. He did not specify how they would solve the issue.

Parliament was moved from the capital city, Tbilisi, to Kutaisi in Western Georgia in May, 2012. This was done in an effort to decentralise power and shift some political control closer to Abkhazia. The move was criticised as marginalising the legislature, and also for the demolition of a Soviet War Memorial at the new building's former location.