Georgian Parliament returns to Tbilisi

Georgian lawmakers have returned to the historic Parliament building in central Tbilisi to continue their duties after being banned from the site for two years.

Georgian Parliament’s fall session opened today with a bureau meeting in the renovated meeting room at the Tbilisi Parliament Building on Rustaveli Ave.

Only committee meetings will be held in the Tbilisi building, while plenary sessions will continue to be held in Kutaisi, where Parliament moved in May 2012 according to changes in the Georgian Constitution.

The current ruling political party spent more than a year trying to change the Constitution and return Parliament to Tbilisi however a lack of votes meant this did not happen. So a decision was made to split Parliament between Kutaisi and Tbilisi, which was made possible by a provision in the regulations allowing Parliament to conduct outreach committee meetings.

Yesterday Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili guided media on a tour of the renovated facility and showed journalists the recent changes to the historic building.

The building was significantly damaged in 2012 and many things inside the building were lost or ruined, including the famous Vorontsov candelabra, which was stolen and has not yet been found. 

See the history of the Tbilisi old Parliament building and what was going inside during the renovation "In pictures."