Georgian parliament revokes mandates of 12 ex-PM Gakharia party MPs

The Parliament of Georgia has formally revoked the parliamentary mandates of 12 members of the opposition party Gakharia for Georgia.

The affected MPs include party leader Giorgi Gakharia and 11 colleagues -  Teona Akubardia, Ana Buchukuri, Levan Gogichaishvili, Zaza Tavadze, Beka Liluashvili, Natia Mezvrishvili, Berdia Sichinava, Kakha Kemoklidze, Roin Kochorashvili, Dimitri Tskitishvili, and Zviad Dzidziguri.

Their replacements in parliament are Gela Abuladze, Jemal Ananidze, Ketevan Bakaradze, Rusudan Tevdzadze, Malkhaz Toria, Shalva Kereselidze, Salome Kobaladze, Giga Farulava, Vika Filfani, Giorgi Sharashidze, Tamar Khvedeliani, and Sopio Khorguani.

Gakharia, the former prime minister under the Georgian Dream government, has described his initial decision to decline parliamentary mandates as a “mistake” and said he did not rule out future participation of his party members in parliament.