The ruling Georgian Dream party was alone in the country’s parliament when it met on Monday for the first time since a disputed election in October.
Georgia’s pro-European president, Salome Zurabishvili, and the pro-Western opposition were not to be found in the parliament building in the capital, Tbilisi.
They refuse to recognize the official results and say the election was marred by fraud.
Already after the elections on 26 October, the newly elected parliamentarians from the opposition declared that they would not take their seats.
The official result from the country’s election commission shows that Georgian Dream has received around 54 percent of the vote.
The members of the ruling party, who were present at the first meeting, have re-elected Shalva Papuashvili as speaker of parliament. They have also elected vice-chairmen and committee chairs.
The party’s founder, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia, was also present.
Meanwhile, there were demonstrations outside the building.
Since the election, people have been protesting the official election result almost daily, especially in Tbilisi.
Recently, however, fewer people have taken to the streets.
On Tuesday, the police used violence when they had to break up a protest camp.
In addition to the result, the first parliamentary session is also controversial.
According to several lawyers in Georgia, the parliament must not meet until the Constitutional Court has ruled on President Zurabishvili’s appeal against the election results.
On social media X, Zurabishvili wrote on Sunday that the assembly was unconstitutional, as “massive electoral fraud has undermined its legitimacy”.
Georgian and international observers have reported numerous serious irregularities in last month’s election.
Georgia’s EU accession process is currently on hold, with the EU seeing the election as a further step backwards for the country.
/ritzau/dpa
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
