Parliament First Session Set for June 7

President Saakashvili has convened the inaugural session of the newly elected parliament for 10am local time on June 7.

The President’s press office said late on June 6 that a relevant decree had already been signed by Mikheil Saakashvili.

The decision has caught the opposition by surprise.

The Georgian Constitution says that the first session of a newly elected parliament should be convened no later than 20 days after the elections – June 10 was therefore the deadline.

The opposition expected the first session would have been convened for either June 9 or June 10 and therefore the eight-party opposition coalition and Labor Party called for a protest rally for late Sunday.