Opposition Turns On Soviet Union Anthem During Parliament Speaker's Speech

Archil Talakvadze, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, presented the annual report of the Parliament’s activities for 2019 in the supreme legislative body.

During his speech, MPs of the parliamentary opposition Elene Khoshtaria and Irma Nadirashvili turned on the anthem of the Soviet Union in the session hall in protest.  They did so when the Parliament Speaker was speaking about the Russian occupation. 

"In our political opposition, there are still people who sold strategic facilities to Russian companies, left soldiers on the battlefield, and left civilians in a war zone. They also signed a resolution at the Council of Europe accusing Georgia of launching hostilities," Talakvadze noted.

In turn, Khoshtaria compared Talakvadze's speech to the report of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, noting that "our country will never be the Soviet Union again."

"There will be no more such reports in our country. Just because Bidzina Ivanishvili has power, it does not mean we are getting used to it," Khoshtaria said, explaining the reason behind their performance.

The opposition MPs were led out of the session hall by bailiffs.

The presentation of the annual report of the Parliament's activities was attended by Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, government members and representatives of Diplomatic Corps.

The report mainly focused on various changes made into general regulations, draft-projects approved by the parliament last year, the fourth wave of the ongoing court reform and future plans of the legislative body. 

By Ana Dumbadze