The opposition parliamentarians announced on March 31 that they will boycott parliamentary sessions in protest of the decision to strip Valery Gelashvili, from the opposition Republican Party, of his MP credentials. But the Industrialist parliamentary faction has not yet decided whether to join this protest or not.

Lawmakers from the New Rights, Industrialists and Democratic Front (uniting MPs from the Republican and Conservative parties) parliamentary factions walked out of the parliament chamber after 124 MPs from the ruling National Movement party voted to dismiss Gelashvili from the Parliament over alleged involvement in the management of businesses.

“We, the opposition factions, announce that we will launch a boycott of the plenary sessions because the [parliamentary] majority does not give us a chance for constructive cooperation,” MP Pikria Chikhradze of the New Rights said on March 31.

“This is actually a one-party Parliament and the entire world should see this… It is impossible to work with this majority,” MP Levan Berdzenishvili of the Republican Party said on March 31.

But it is not yet clear whether the Industrialists parliamentary faction will joint other opposition lawmakers in boycotting the parliament’s sessions or not.

“Although we walked out from yesterday’s parliamentary session to protest against the Parliament’s verdict, our final decision of whether to boycott sessions or not will be made through consultations [amongst faction members],” MP Zurab Tkemaladze, leader of the Industrialist Party told Civil Georgia on April 1.

Influential MP from the ruling National Movement party Giga Bokeria expressed hope that this decision by the opposition lawmakers “will not be fulfilled.”