Parliament of Georgia elects new chairperson
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Wednesday, June 26
Archil Talakvadze, MP of the Georgian Dream and a leader of the majority, was appointed as the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia. During yesterday’s sitting, the Parliament chose Talakvadze for the position with 94 votes.
The Parliament discussed the resignation of Irakli Kobakhidze, the former Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia. The First Deputy Chairperson, Tamar Chugoshvili thanked Kobakhidze for his work, saying “I would like to express my gratitude towards Mr. Irakli for the important work done during the last two and a half years.”
Before the secret ballot, Talakvadze addressed his colleagues and thanked for their trust and support. He spoke about events in Tbilisi in recent days and stated that Parliament of Georgia would do everything to help people who were injured during the protests.
“It is a great responsibility for me to become the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia and to guide this very important constitutional institution. I publicly promise that I will do everything to serve people, society, and our country effectively and wisely,” noted Talakvadze during his speech.
He also emphasized that while the occupation of Georgia continues, “there won’t be a place for the Russian MPs in the Parliament of Georgia.”
According to his statement, on June 20, the reaction from the members of the ruling party was instant, all the leaders of the team reacting wisely on the provocations. In his speech, Talakvadze noted that there are many questions that the opposition should answer.
“Unfortunately, we could not avoid this provocative scenario, and we were not able to predict it. However, due to this, we took political responsibility and the highest official of our constitution, Irakli Kobakhidze, took a critical decision, took responsibility of the team and left the position. Just as our colleague Zakaria Kutsnashvili decided to leave the mandate of the MP,” noted Talakvadze.
Talakvadze also thanked Kobakhidze and talked about the initiative of holding 2020 with a proportional system, with an electoral threshold of zero. He said that this is the right and democratic decision made by the ruling team. The MP also noted that the United National Movement does not like the initiative because their “artificially created dominance in the opposition will be lost.”
At the end of his speech, newly elected chairperson emphasized that Georgia will not be a victim of aggression, and will continue to consolidate peace, democracy, and security. According to him, the parliamentary agenda will ensure a better, more developed and peaceful future.
Irakli Kobakhidze announced that he would resign after the protests in Tbilisi, which erupted on June 20 in response to a Russian lawmaker sitting in the parliamentary speaker’s chair during a religious assembly at the Parliament.
After the situation in front of the Parliament became hostile, with the protesters trying to take the building, a special unit force was deployed at the scene, who used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.
Many were injured, about 240 people were taken to the medical facilities; several of the young protesters lost one of their eyes from the rubber bullet injuries.
