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Georgian opposition boycotts the opening of new parliament

07 June 2008 10:05 (UTC +04:00)

The United opposition block, Labor Party and Christian-Democratic Movement, who passed to the parliament on the proportional system, boycotted the opening session. Only laborite joined the parliament session was Ramaz Tevdoradze. Addressing the Parliament, President Mikhail Saakashvili invited opposition to the dialogue. He said Georgia was in the worldâ€™s focus now and the country overcame the great political crisis and it would prevent the difficulties in future. â€œOur first target today is to restore the unity of Georgia and therefore I called on all of you to unite around this targetâ€. The President expressed gratitude to former speaker Nino Burjanadze, who didnâ€™t run in the elections, for her contributions. Ruling United National Movement won 119 out of 150 seats in parliament in the elections on May 21. The United Opposition block received 17, each laborite and Christian-democrat 6 and republicans won 2 mandates. The protesters tried to tackle lawmakers to enter to the parliament, but police prevented their actions.