Parliament approves Georgian gov’t cabinet amid protest

An opposition protest demonstration has been taking place in front of the Georgian parliament building since this morning.

The protesters arranged a corridor of shame for MPs entering the country’s legislature, and chanted ‘slaves!’

Candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia spoke today at an extraordinary plenary session of the parliament, during which the parliament declared a vote of confidence in the new government cabinet.

The composition of the government has not changed. The country will still have the same prime minister – Giorgi Gakharia.

The parliament, which consists only of MPs from the ruling Georgian Dream party, will have no obstacles to declare the confidence of Gakharia and his team.

At the entrance to the parliament, journalists asked Gakharia how comfortable he felt when there was only one party in parliament.

“Of course, this is inconvenient,” Gakharia answered.

“The opposition refuses its mandates and participation in the work of parliament after the rigged elections, but this does not mean that the government, parliament or Georgian Dream can remain calm and that we will not control their every action, word or deed,” Anna Natsvlishvili, a leader of the Lelo opposition party, said.

Opposition parties said the October 31 elections were rigged and called for early elections.

The opposition has three main demands: a change in the electoral administration for the elections, the appointment of new elections, and the release of political prisoners.

Despite negotiations between the government and the opposition mediated by Western partners, no agreement has yet been reached.

That is why the sessions of the parliament of the tenth convocation for the first time in the modern history of Georgia are held with just one party present.