Georgia: Tbilisi Protests Produce a Mobile Parliament

Tbilisi's anti-government demonstrations have gotten Georgia's parliament on the move. For the past three weeks, no plenary sittings have been held, and no laws passed. The shutdown has been presented as a measure to protect lawmakers from angry protesters, but some observers caution that it is a sign of the legislative branch's weakness.

The governing National Movement Party maintains that the parliament building will remain closed until the emotional temperature in Tbilisi recedes. The building, located along central Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue, is a focal point of daily protests. "We don't want to let any force that wishes to see disorder, provocations, [...] and aggression achieve their goal," Parliament Speaker Davit Bakradze said in an April 26 appearance on Georgian Public Television.

With no legislative building to call their own at present, parliamentary committees and offices instead are convening in various, ad hoc locations. Late in April, for example, the Sheraton Metechi Palace was abuzz with lawmakers who held semi-formal proceedings and meetings in the five-star hotel. Meanwhile, the Foreign Relations and European Integration Committee convened in a Tbilisi university classroom, and the Agricultural Committee pondered the irrigation problems of Georgia's primary grape-growing region, Kakheti, in the wine cellar of another local hotel.

While the National Movement Party, which enjoys a massive legislative majority, has supported the move out of the parliament building, the legislature's largest minority faction, the Christian-Democratic Movement, has scorned the itinerant committee meetings as "preposterous" and refused to participate in them.

"Parliament is effectively paralyzed, yet they [governing party leaders] are trying to create a semblance of normalcy by conducting these vain meetings," Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Levan Vepkhvadze told EurasiaNet.

At the same time, Vepkhvadze supported the decision to close the parliament building. "I think it is good that parliamentary sessions have not become an additional irritant in this situation, but, legally speaking, it is hard to justify the closure of the parliament," he continued.

Procedures and Rules Committee Chairperson Khatuna Gogorishvili insisted recently that the suspension of parliamentary sessions is legally permissible. But that view is disputed by Tbilisi State University Assistant Professor of Law Irakli Kobakhidze. "The decision to suspend parliamentary sessions runs counter to the Constitution and parliament's rules, which stipulate that the plenary sittings must be held on a once-in-a-fortnight basis," Kobakhidze said.

Under parliament's rules, the legislature's work may be interrupted only by the declaration of a state of emergency, or martial law. Changes to the schedule may be made by a supermajority vote. "The parliament didn't take a formal decision to halt its sittings," said Kobakhidze. "This decision was dictated by the executive branch."

He believes the present state of affairs has exposed flaws in Georgia's system of checks and balances. "We are facing a situation where the executive branch has taken the upper hand over the legislative one," Kobakhidze concluded.

In an April 27 interview with the opposition-friendly daily Rezonansi, former parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze, who is now a leader of the protest movement, alleged that the incumbent speaker, Bakradze, shut the legislature down because he is "scared." Despite multiple attempts, Bakradze, Gogorishvili, the rules committee chair, along with other top MPs remained unavailable for comment.

At present, the contending sides appear to be locked in a political war of attrition. "Both the government and the opposition engaged in this confrontation on the premise that they have sufficient power to win without making compromises," said conflict analyst Giorgi Khutsishvili.

In the war of attrition, the opposition now finds itself at a decided disadvantage, having failed to achieve its stated goal of fomenting mass protests. Nevertheless, opposition leaders seem to be able to command a small, but dedicated group of anti-administration die-hards. These protesters retain the strength to make noise in Tbilisi on a daily basis, but they don't seem to scare members of President Mikheil Saakashvili's administration too much. Still, the administration is wary of making the type of political misstep that could inflame passions and bring more protesters out into the streets. As a result, Saakashvili's administration watches and waits, and there's no telling when a normal legislative schedule might resume.

"The opposition has become the hostage of its own demand," commented Zaza Jgharkava, a political commentator and journalist with the pro-government Rustavi-2 television station.

"The brighter minds in the opposition are looking for a dignified way out from the stalemate," Jgharkava continued. "Blocking the streets is cutting your nose off to spite your face. Now some of the leaders see that by this means they cannot fulfill the promise they made to their supporters -- remove the government -- while the patience of both the demonstrators and, especially, Tbilisi residents is wearing thin. They realize they have to find a way out."

Some analysts have posited that Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarch Ilia II, who has a long record of mediating between political groups, could bring about a dignified end to the current situation. The Patriarch called on both sides to gather on April 28 in church for prayer and forgiveness. Saakashvili and key members of the governing elite attended the supreme pontiff's sermon at Tbilisi's Trinity Cathedral.

Generally wary of differing with the influential patriarch, most opposition leaders gathered in a different church on Rustaveli Avenue. In a theatrical move, Saakashvili shook hands with the moderate opposition leader Irakly Alasania, who attended the patriarch's service.

But the day of forgiveness appears to have changed little. Opposition leaders maintain they will only talk with the government about Saakashvili's resignation and terms for his family's safety. Meanwhile, Bakradze, the parliament speaker, said in late April that the government's offer to hold conciliation talks will not be on the table forever. Soon enough, he said, the authorities will "proceed with reforms," with or without the opposition.