Page 6 - GEORptJul19

after a Russian MP was invited to address Orthodox lawmakers from across the region from the speaker’s chair in the chamber.
2.0 Politics
2.1 Georgian ruling coalition takes firmer line amid
protests
With 91 votes in favour and zero against, the Parliament of Georgia lifted the immunity of MP Nika Melia of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) at its June 26 plenary session. Prosecutors hold him responsible for inciting the protesters on the night of June 20-21 when attempts were made to storm the parliament, resulting in police use of rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon and numerous serious injuries among demonstrators.
The ruling coalition has also taken a firmer position following a concession announced the day before when it accepted proportional representation would be used in the 2020 parliamentary elections. Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia, whose resignation is being demanded by protesters still gathering on a daily basis on Rustaveli Avenue in front of the parliament building, refused to show up and report to lawmakers on events.
Furthermore, freshly elected Speaker of Parliament Archil Talakvadze accused opposition figures of being behind the violent street protests on the night of June 20-21. Talakvadze said from the parliament rostrum on June 25 that “a particular political group” tried to turn “a peaceful rally into an act of aggression,” plotting “to overrun the police cordon and storm the Parliament of Georgia.”
The protests were sparked after a Russian MP was invited to address Orthodox lawmakers from across the region from the speaker’s chair in the chamber.
2.2 Georgian government accepts proportional representation elections but protests continue
Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party has announced that it is ready to conduct parliamentary elections according to the proportional representation electoral system starting from 2020, as opposed to from 2024, as was planned as part of adjustments to the new Constitutional provisions.
The move has been one of the top demands of demonstrators who have been gathering and protesting in Tbilisi since June 20. But Georgian Dream chief Bidzina Ivanishvili has added a second provision, which the opposition parties claim amounts to a trap: no threshold for entering the Parliament will be enforced.
Ivanishvili s aid that the 2020 parliamentary elections should take place using
6 GEORGIA Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com