Parliament to Probe into Opposition MP’s Business

Parliamentary Committee for Procedural Issues will probe into the business activities of MP Valery Gelashvili of the opposition Republican Party.

Decision was approved by the Parliamentary Bureau on March 20 after the request of parliamentarians from the ruling National Movement party.

Mayor of the capital city Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava said on March 18 that construction firm Evra, owned by MP Valeri Gelashvili of the opposition Republican Party, could have been behind fire, which destroyed one of the schools in the Avlabari district of Tbilisi on March 18.

“There is not place for bandits like Gelashvili in the Georgian Parliament,” MP Bidzina Bregadze of the ruling party told reporters on March 20.

MP Gelashvili, who denied allegations, said on March 18 that he will sue Tbilisi Mayor Ugulava for libel.

The opposition parties have already condemned allegations by the authorities as an attempt to discredit opposition, amid the opposition parties’ campaign against Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili over a high-profile murder scandal.