New Rights Undecided on Ending Parliament Boycotting

The New Rights opposition party has not yet defined its position about if and when it will stop boycotting parliamentary sessions, the Georgian daily Rezonansi reported on August 25.

MPs from the New Rights, Industrialist and Democratic Front parliamentary factions (the latter unites MPs from the Republican and Conservative parties) launched a boycott on March 31 demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, direct elections of city mayors and regional governors, and election reforms.

The Democratic Front and Industrialists parliamentary factions have already announced that they are in favor of putting an end to the boycott starting from September, when the autumn sessions convene.

?This statement by [the Democratic Front and Industrialists factions] was a surprise. We, the three factions, have jointly announced a boycott and we should also decide whether or not we will stop boycotting through joint consultations,? MP Pikria Chikhradze of the New Rights party told the Rezonansi.

Parliamentarians from the Republican, Conservative and Industrialist parties think that they should return to the Parliament?s chamber, as it will be vital for the opposition to use the parliamentary sessions to voice its position on the eve of the local self-governance elections scheduled for this December.

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