Two more opposition MPs enter parliament
MP Aleko Elisashvili (R ) has stated that his party has reached an agreement on the election system reform with the ruling party. Photo: netgazeti.
Tweet 
Share
Opposition MPs from Citizens party Aleko Elisashvili and Levan Ioseliani have decided to enter parliament, Elisashvili has confirmed with journalists earlier today.
Only four of 60 opposition MPs have entered parliament so far since the elections on October 31.
Now Elisashvili and Ioseliani will join the four former members of the Alliance of Patriots opposition party in the state legislature.
Other opposition MPs say that the October 31 parliamentary elections in Georgia were fabricated and are demanding repeat elections.
Leaders of several opposition parties have accused Elisashvili of 'playing the government's game.' Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Fifty-one of the 60 opposition MPs have already requested the suspension of their MP status.
Elisashvili says that he and Ioseliani have agreed on the ‘fundamental reform’ of the country’s election system with the ruling Georgian Dream party.
He stated that the election reform ‘will exclude any fabrications and the election results will be known for people as soon as polling stations are closed.’
Elisashvili said that per the agreement all opposition parties will have their representatives in central, precinct and district election commissions.’
Six of eight opposition parties and election blocs who have won seats in the 10th convocation of the Georgian parliament have released a joint statement earlier today in which they said that ‘only the conduct of repeat, democratic parliamentary elections can solve the current political crisis’.
Four members of the pro-Russian Alliance of Patriots opposition party, who were on the party’s election list for the October 31, 2020 parliamentary elections, have left the party earlier today and entered the parliament amid the opposition’s boycott.
The parliament of Georgia has suspended the MP status for three of four members of the Alliance of Patriots opposition party earlier today, per the request of the MPs themselves.
The 10th convocation of the parliament of Georgia is holding its first session today following the October 31 parliamentary elections and the second round of elections on November 21. No opposition MPs from the eight parties and election blocs that were voted into parliament are attending the session. Five of eight opposition parties and blocs have signed a memorandum earlier today in which they do not recognise the election results, and demand the conduct of repeat elections and refuse to take up their mandates.
The Georgian parliament has not suspended the MP status of 51 opposition MPs earlier today per their request. None of the ruling party MPs, who are 90 in the 150-member parliament, voted for the cancellation of MP status. Member of the United National Movement opposition party Roman Gotsiridze has stated that the ruling party ‘is afraid of the reactions of international partners’ and that is why they refused to vote for the suspension of status for opposition MPs.
Members of the European Parliament working on Georgian issues - Sven Mikser, Andrius Kubilius, Markéta Gregorová, Michael Gahler, Petras Auštrevičius and Viola von Cramon - have expressed their concern regarding the ‘careless breach of privacy’ regarding opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV director Nika Gvaramia by ruling party MP Tea Tsulukiani, as well as her ‘unflattering attitude’ towards the EU ambassador to Georgia.
Changes to the Georgian election code, per an agreement with the ruling Georgian Dream and Citizens opposition party have been introduced to the state legislature.
Many of Russia's initiatives are directly aimed at causing internal strife and social division in Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, the Vice Speaker of the Parliament and MP from the opposition Citizens party, said in comments to the reveal of the Russian supervision authorities allowing importation of certain Georgian-made products on the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
There is “no precondition” for early Parliamentary elections in Georgia and it “makes no sense” to talk about it, Levan Ioseliani, a member of the Citizens opposition party and the Vice Speaker of the Parliament, said on Tuesday following comments by an opposition politician about imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s plans for early elections in the country.