FIVE ARMENIANS AND THREE AZERIS IN GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT
There were more representatives of national minorities in the previous parliament.
Formation of the legislative power lasting four and a half months finished in Georgia. As a result, the Armenian community of Georgia will have 5 representatives in the Georgian Parliament.
If the preliminary results are confirmed, the governing party will have at least 115 representatives in the Parliament. This means that both Armenians included in the lists of the party will become MPs. Melik Raisyan is the 35th while the editor of the Armenian newspaper ''Vrastan'' Van Bayburdyan is the 110th. We shall remind that at the Parliament elections in November there was no Armenian in the list of ''Sahakashvili-National Movement'' block. There is an Armenian also in the list of the ''Renaissance'' block led by Aslan Abashidze, however he is the 35th and will hardly pass.
As far as the majority MPs elected during the November elections are concerned, all the three Armenians proved to have had a fair play. Henzel Mkoyan is elected in Ninotsminda, Hamlet Shahbelyan - in Akhalkalaki and Hayk Melkonyan - in Tsalka. So, the Armenian community will have 5 representatives in this Parliament while in the previous one there were 6 Armenians.
However, this is a success taking into account that the Georgian Azeris have only 3 representatives despite the fact that the number of Azeri population in Georgia exceeds that of the Armenians. Being the biggest ethnical minority, the Azeris are extremely dissatisfied with their representatives and accuse the central authorities of hindering the political activeness of the non-Georgian population of the country. Leader of the Azerbaijani movement ''Heyrat'', former MP of Georgian Parliament Zumrud Gurbanli said recently that as a result of the recent elections the ''Azeri factor is disappearing from the political scene of Georgia''. ''Our objective today is not to disappear from the political scene of Georgia''.
As far as the majority MPs elected during the November elections are concerned, all the three Armenians proved to have had a fair play. Henzel Mkoyan is elected in Ninotsminda, Hamlet Shahbelyan - in Akhalkalaki and Hayk Melkonyan - in Tsalka. So, the Armenian community will have 5 representatives in this Parliament while in the previous one there were 6 Armenians.
However, this is a success taking into account that the Georgian Azeris have only 3 representatives despite the fact that the number of Azeri population in Georgia exceeds that of the Armenians. Being the biggest ethnical minority, the Azeris are extremely dissatisfied with their representatives and accuse the central authorities of hindering the political activeness of the non-Georgian population of the country. Leader of the Azerbaijani movement ''Heyrat'', former MP of Georgian Parliament Zumrud Gurbanli said recently that as a result of the recent elections the ''Azeri factor is disappearing from the political scene of Georgia''. ''Our objective today is not to disappear from the political scene of Georgia''.
