Parliament approves new vice-speakers, heads of committees amid opposition’s boycott
All the approved candidates are the MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream party. Photo: parliament of Georgia press office.
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The Georgian parliament has approved candidates for top parliamentary posts earlier today after several MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) quit the party due to the rejection of the GD-proposed election reform bill on November 14.
The opposition and independent MPs did not participate in the voting.
GD MP Gia Volski has been approved as the first vice-speaker of parliament, while fellow MPs of the same party Mamuka Mdinaradze and Giorgi Kakhiani as deputy chairs of parliament.
Kakha Kuchava, who was also nominated for depute head of parliament, will be voted tomorrow.
The opposition says that rallies will continue until the current state leadership meets the demands of protesters. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Genadi Margvelashvili has become the head of parliament’s Education Committee, David Songhulashvili will chair the Euro Integration Committee and Irakli Beraia – the Committee of Foreign Relations.
The candidates for the heads of Environmental and Procedural Issues Committees will be voted tomorrow.
The opposition has boycotted the process as they are on the streets, protesting the rejection of the election bill.
Independent MPs said that they did not want to participate in the voting.
Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has urged opposition MPs, who are now protesting the rejection of an election reform bill on the streets, to return to the legislative body and voice their demands in parliament.
Police have dispersed a rally near the parliament building at 5 a.m. earlier today. 28 individuals have been detained while three others have received injuries, the Georgian Interior Ministry reports. Law enforcers used water cannons to open the entrances of the legislative body which were blocked by the opposition and demonstrators protesting the rejection of an election reform bill on November 14.
Law enforcers and emergency brigades are present at parliament in central Tbilisi, as last week the opposition announced “a large-scale rally and the blocking of the work of parliament” on November 25 and 26. The leader of the European Georgia opposition party David Bakradze says that rallies will continue until the current state leadership “takes genuine steps to ease the current tension."
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party proposed bill on holding of 2020 parliamentary elections with a fully proportional voting system and a zero threshold has been scrapped as 101 MPs instead of mandatory 113 voted for it. 141 of total 150 MPs have been registered for the vote earlier today. However, 37 abstained from voting and three voted against.
Police have used iron fences to block off the streets near parliament in order to prevent demonstrators from disrupting parliament work. The opposition and civic activists, who have been protesting the rejection of the election reform bill since November 14, had plans not to allow MPs in parliament.
“Even though several irresponsible politicians believe that attacking police, breaking into-parliament or blocking the work of the legislative body is their freedom of expression, we, the state government, fully realise the importance of the democratic development of the country and our response to such actions will be fully in line with the law, full of responsibility to our citizens and reasonable,” Gakharia said.