TBILISI, October 21 (Itar-Tass) — A new Georgian parliament will hold its first session in Kutaisi, the country’s second biggest city, on Sunday. The United National Movement party of President Mikhail Saakashvili that had been in power since 2004 won 65 out of 150 seats in the October 1 parliamentary elections. The Georgian Dream Coalition won 85 seats in the new parliament. President Mikhail Saakashvili will address the deputies on Sunday.
The Georgian parliament’s first session will elect the speaker, vice-speakers and chairmen of the committees. The Georgian Dream Coalition has nominated David Usupashvili as candidate to the post of parliamentary speaker. The parliament is to discuss and approve the composition of a new Georgian government on October 23-24. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Georgian Dream Coalition leader, has officially been nominated to the post of prime minister.
Many people are wondering for how long the parliament is going to sit in Kutaisi and when it’s going to return to Tbilisi.
Zviad Dzidziguri, a candidate from the Georgian Dream Coalition to a vice-speaker’s post, believes that it’s impossible for the parliament and the government to work in different cities. The new parliament will make an amendment to the Constitution allowing the deputies to return to work to the capital.
The previous parliament passed a constitutional amendment on July 1, 2011 which said that deputies should work in Kutaisi after the 2012 parliamentary elections. However, most Georgian political parties and public representatives were opposed to that decision even last year. They said that they appreciated Kutaisi’s contribution to the history of Georgia but instead of solving its problems the team of President Mikhail Saakashvili made an absolutely inexpedient decision.
Both the political parties and general public believe that Saakashvili tried to take revenge on the residents of Tbilisi who had staged protest actions against his policy for many years and had voted for his opponents at previous elections.