Georgia’s parliament is launching following 26 October’s disputed parliamentary elections with the opposition set to boycott.

Parliament recognises credentials of MPs

The inaugural session of Georgia’s 11th parliament has recognised the authority of all 150 members, including all elected opposition members, who have refused to take their seats.

Estonian foreign affairs committee head: Georgia in ‘constitutional crisis’

The chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Estonian Parliament, Marko Mihkelson, has said that ‘Georgia is in a constitutional crisis’ while reporting a tweet of President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili.

Georgia is in a constitutional crisis. https://t.co/PhFI1t5SRB

— Marko Mihkelson (@markomihkelson) November 24, 2024

Lawyers warn new parliament breaches Constitution

A number of legal experts have said that convening the new parliament is in breach of the constitution, given the violations that took place during the vote and the legal challenges being mounted over the official results

Georgian rights group Transparency International — Georgia (TI Georgia) labelled Georgian Dream’s intention to launch the new parliament a ‘straightforward and severe violation’ of Georgia’s constitution. 

This warning arises from disputes over the constitutionality of the 26 October elections and the legality of all 150 elected parliamentarians’ mandates, compounded by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili’s refusal to convene the new parliamentary session.

TI Georgia also referenced Article 86 (5a) of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament, which prohibits including candidate MPs whose mandates are being contested in the Constitutional Court in the parliament’s resolution. 

Despite this, Georgian Dream are expected to set up a temporary mandate commission from which at least 76 elected members will recognise the mandates of at least 100 MPs to finally launch the new parliament.

Prominent constitutional lawyers Vakhtang Khmaladze and Vakhushti Menabde had previously cited the same arguments to warn that the new parliament would be unconstitutional.

The Constitutional Court has not yet decided whether to accept Zourabichvili’s petition for consideration. If accepted, it is anticipated that the court will combine it with a similar petition submitted by 30 outgoing MPs.

It remains uncertain what would occur if, hypothetically, the Constitutional Court were to agree with the petitions and rule that the new parliament, whose launch would suspend the powers of the outgoing one, unconstitutional.

Parliamentary session begins

The parliamentary session has started.

The four opposition groups who crossed the 5% threshold in the official results of the elections in October are not present.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, who was on top of Georgian Dream’s party list, is present in parliament.

Opposition leader water cannoned

Grigol Gegelia, one of the leaders of the opposition group Strong Georgia group, was doused with water from a water cannon on Freedom Square this morning.

Gegelia approached police officers standing by and asked if they were going to disperse the demonstrators.

‘You are paid by the state budget. You are my servant. You are the servant of these people’, Gegelia addressed police officers. ‘On behalf of these people, as an elected official [for parliament], I ask you whether you are going to’, he said, before he was sprayed with water from a water cannon.

According to RFE/RL, another police officer told Gegelia that it was an accident.

Georgian Dream MPs begin entering parliament

Georgian Dream MPs are reportedly beginning to enter parliament. 

Several cars that entered the building through police corridors received an angry response from protesters, who shouted ‘Russians’, ‘slaves’ and ‘leave’.

Weekend protests

Several protests took place over the weekend. On Saturday, a protest in solidarity with student protesters blocked the central Heroes Square.

Students have taken an active role in the protests in recent weeks.

Read more: Georgia’s students take their lectures to the streets 

On Sunday, representatives of the arts and creative industries marched from Rustaveli Avenue to Tbilisi State University, while students and academics gathered there after marching from Ilia State University. 

A women’s march also took place to the residence of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, where participants left suitcases bearing the message ‘I would leave, you should’ to draw attention to the outflow of emigrees they warned would increase as Georgia’s democracy continues to backslide.

Who will be in the new government

A few hours before the start of the first session of the 11th convocation of the Parliament, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze presented three new members of the Cabinet of Ministers.

On Monday Kobakhidze nominated:

• Maka Bochorishvili for the position of Foreign Affairs Minister. She will replace Ilia Darchiashvili, who has held the post since April 2022.
• Anri Okhanashvili for the position of Justice Minister. He will replace Rati Bregadze, who has held the position since April 2021.
• Davit Songhulashvili for the position of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Minister. He will replace Otar Shamugia, who has held the post since February 9, 2022.

On Thursday after a meeting of the ruling Georgian Dream's political council, the party’s executive secretary Mamuka Mdinaradze announced that the new government’s candidate for prime minister will again be Irakli Kobakhidze, and the candidate for parliament speaker will again be Shalva Papuashvili.

Heavy police presence

Police are blocking the side streets around the parliament building to prevent protesters from surrounding it. Riot police are deployed on the nearby Freedom Square, including the two recently purchased water cannons. Several masked, uniformed men are also present.

On Sunday the Interior Ministry warned that if they attempted to block access to parliament, protesters could face up to two years in prison. The ruling party criminalised the blocking of parliament, the Central Election Commission, and the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church days before the election.

Protesters gather

Protesters are gathering outside parliament ahead of the expected launch of the session at 12:00. Several hundred stayed overnight in tents along the central Rustaveli Avenue.