Georgia celebrates 100th anniversary of establishment of first parliament

Five MPs females and 21 MPs were from ethnic minority groups in the first parliament of Georgia. Photo: National Archive of Georgia.

Agenda.ge, 12 Mar 2019 - 14:45, Tbilisi,Georgia

One hundred years have passed since the creation of the Constituent Assembly of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia, which was the first parliament in the country.

The legislative body passed laws in between 1919-1921, until the invasion of the Red Army.  

The first meeting of the 130-member assembly took place on that day 100 years ago, with six political parties, one independent MP, five female lawmakers and 21 legislators from ethnic minorities.

The Constituent Assembly managed to adopt hundreds of laws. Photo. National Archive of Georgia. 

The Independence Act of Georgia, which was adopted on May 26, 1918 was confirmed on March 12, 1919 during the first meeting of the assembly.

The elections for the assembly kicked off on February 14, 1919 and continued for three days.

1,024,682 voters were allowed to vote in the elections, of which 618,677 showed up to vote. 616,150 ballot papers were considered valid.

  • Most seats were occupied by the Georgian Social Democratic Labour Party- 102.
  • The Georgian Socialist-Federalist party took 9 seats.
  • The Georgian National Democrat Party- 8.

Eleven MPs had foreign university diplomas [not Russian]. Photo: National Archive of Georgia. 

Out of the total 130 MPs 21 were journalists in profession and 20 teachers.

The constitution of Georgia, adopted by Georgia’s Constituent Assembly on February 21, 1921 reflected the democratic aspirations of the Democratic Republic of Georgia.

Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani tweeted.