Georgian opposition demands Speaker's resignation amid scandal

The sitting of the Russian MP in the chair of the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament during the International Parliamentary Orthodox Assembly has provoked an oppositionists' protest. They announced the start of the Speaker's impeachment procedure.

The Parliamentary Orthodox Assembly is held in Tbilisi on June 19-21. About 100 delegates from 25 countries take part in it, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports with reference to the press service of the Parliament.

The today's session of the Assembly was chaired by Sergey Gavrilov, a Russian State Duma MP, who was sitting in the chair of the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, which caused dissatisfaction of some MPs. After the break, six MPs blocked the Speaker's rostrum to prevent Gavrilov from returning to this chair.

They also demanded to expel the Russian parliamentary delegation from the building, citing the fact that Russia occupied the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It is unacceptable for the Russian MP to take the chair of the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Giorgi Kandelaki, an MP from the "European Georgia" Party, said on the air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Company, as watched by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

After that, oppositionists announced the start of the impeachment procedure of the Speaker, Irakli Kobakhidze, whom they found responsible for the Russian MP sitting in his chair.

"Kobakhidze is in charge for what happened; he admitted all that; he spent budget funds on Gavrilov's visit," Giorgi Ugulava, one of the party’s leaders, said on the air of the "Rustavi-2".

According to his story, the opposition intends to seek for Kobakhidze's impeachment "by all means", not just by collecting signatures.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 20, 2019 at 04:30 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.