Six parliamentarians who left the former governing party of President
Mikheil Saakashvili have officially been recognized as a faction of
independents.
The six MPs have formed a faction called ‘Non-partisan Independent
Majoritarians.’
Gogi Liparteliani, MP for the Lentekhi district, Georgia’s mountainous
region in the west, will chair the faction. The rest are MPs Goderdzi
Bukia, Enzel Makoiani, Kakha Okriashvili, Sergo Khabuliani and Giorgi
Gozalishvili.
The latter joined a few days ago, after which the independents reached
the threshold of six MPs and were entitled to form their own faction.
Parliament’s regulations allow a faction additional time during review
of draft laws and during political debates.
There are 150 MPs in the Georgian parliament. 100 MPs are needed for a
constitutional majority. The party of President Saakashvili got 65
seats in the election, while Prime Minister Ivanishvili’s coalition
got 85. If the new faction supports them, the majority will still need
the votes of a few minority MPs to adopt constitutional amendments.
