Opposition MPs Quit Parliamentary Posts
Parliamentarians from the opposition News Rights faction Koka Guntsadze, Davit Saganelidze and Mzia Tortladze, who are the Deputy Chairmen of the Parliamentary Committees for Human Rights, Health Care and Social Issues, and Education, Science, Culture and Sport, respectively, announced at a news conference on May 24 that they will resign.
This decision comes after Davit Kirkitadze, an influential parliamentarian from the ruling National Movement party, said on May 23 that he will resign from the position of Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security and offer this position to the opposition lawmakers if they abandon their boycott of the parliamentary sessions.
“We quit these posts without any regret in favor of the parliamentary majority and in exchange we call on them to meet our requirements, including the resignation of the Interior Minister, reform of the election system, and direct elections of city mayors and regional governors,” Davit Saganelidze said at the news conference.
These are the major demands of the opposition parliamentarians, who launched a boycott of the parliamentary sessions on March 31 after the majority stripped Valery Gelashvili, of the Republican Party, of his MP credentials.
