New Parliament Vice Speakers Elected

New Parliament elected at its inaugural session on October 21 five vice speakers – four representing Georgian Dream (GD) coalition and one parliamentary opposition, United National Movement (UNM).

The Parliament in which GD has 85 MPs and UNM – 65, elected with 92 votes to 0 Manana Kobakhidze of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG) party as first vice speaker.

Zviad Dzidziguri, leader of Conservative Party, part of the GD coalition, was elected as vice speaker with 92 votes to 0.

Zurab Abashidze of Our Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD) became the vice speaker with 90 votes.

OGGD MP Murman Dumbadze took the post of vice speaker as a lawmaker elected from Adjara Autonomous Republic. This region on Black Sea coast has six majoritarian MPs in the Parliament and according to regulations one vice speaker should be chosen among these six MPs. A nomination for this post requires endorsement from at least four out of six MPs from Adjara. In Adjara GD majoritarian MP candidates won three single-mandate constituencies and three others were won by UNM candidates. So in order to make a nomination, Dumbadze required endorsement from at least one UNM MP from Adjara. His nomination was supported by five MPs from Adjara, including two UNM lawmakers. Dumbadze was elected on the post with 81 votes to 0.

GD was eligible to one more vice speaker’s post, which was initially expected to be taken by Zurab Tkemaladze of the Industrialist party, part of the GD coalition. MP Tkemaladze and GD, however, refused to take this post, saying that six vice speaker’s posts was too many for a 150-member Parliament.

Parliamentary minority was eligible to one post of the vice speaker, which was taken by UNM MP Giorgi Baramidze, ex-state minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration issues. Baramidze was elected on the post with 92 votes to 27.