Saakashvili Opens New Parliament Session
President Saakashvili told the new parliament that national unity was paramount.
The President started his address by praising the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II; government members and foreign diplomats, attending the inaugural session of the newly elected parliament.
“I want to give a special salute to our people, who keep a close eye on us,” Saakashvili said on June 7.
He acknowledged the previous parliament’s positive role and thanked its chairperson, Nino Burjanadze, for what he called “a good job.”
He also said this Parliament “should be the period when poverty is overcome” and “historic decisions are taken.”
Saakashvili also said that the country had overcome “a very difficult political crisis” last November “through the democratic process.” He said he had stepped down as President and called early presidential elections to gain a new mandate for further reform and “consolidation of the nation.”
“Whatever personal insults and attacks are made against us it does not matter; our major value is the unity of Georgia,” he said. “We have no right to divide Georgia into radicals and moderates; our goal is to reach out our hand to each citizen of Georgia.”
Meanwhile, only a few hundred protesters gathered outside Parliament.
“Our goal is to leave the ruling party alone in this illegal Parliament,” Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of the New Rights Party, part of the eight-party coalition, told the rally. “Shame on those parties and politicians who enter Parliament.”
