New Georgian parliament starts 1st session

The newly-elected Georgian lawmakers gathered on Sunday in the second largest city of the South Caucasus country to start their first session. The session was opened by a speech delivered by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and was chaired temporarily by the eldest member of the elected legislature, an 85-year-old lawmaker. The Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia ll, attended the opening session along with leaders of other regions in the country. Also present at the opening session as an honorable guest was Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the election coalition Georgian Dream, which won the 2012 parliamentary elections by getting 85 seats. The former ruling United National Movement party now has 65 seats in the 150-seat unicameral legislature. The session would elect the parliament speaker and deputy speakers after all lawmakers were sworn in for their respective four-year terms. The Georgian Dream leader Ivanishvili has nominated Davit Usupashvili as the candidate for the parliament speaker. Usupashvili is leader of the Republican Party, one of the six founding parities of the Georgian Dream.