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Georgia Gamsakhurdia's Ouster and Its Aftermath
A small but vocal parliamentary opposition to Gamsakhurdia
began to coalesce after August 1991, particularly after
government forces reportedly fired on demonstrators in September.
At this time, several of Gamsakhurdia's top supporters in the
Round Table/Free Georgia bloc joined forces with the opposition.
However, the opposition was unable to convince Gamsakhurdia to
call new elections in late 1991. The majority of deputies, most
of whom owed their presence in parliament to Gamsakhurdia,
supported him to the end. Indeed, a significant number of
deputies followed Gamsakhurdia into exile in Chechnya, where they
continued to issue resolutions and decrees condemning the
"illegal putsch."
In the aftermath of Gamsakhurdia's ouster in January 1992,
parliament ceased to function and an interim Political
Consultative Council was formed. It was to consist of about forty
members, to include ten political parties, a select group of
intellectuals, and several opposition members of parliament. This
council was intended to serve as a substitute parliament,
although it only had the right to make recommendations.
Legislative functions were granted to a new and larger body, the
State Council, created in early March 1992. By May 1992, the
State Council had sixty-eight members, including representatives
of more than thirty political parties and twenty social movements
that had opposed Gamsakhurdia. Efforts were also made to bring in
representatives of Georgia's ethnic minorities, although no
Abkhazian or Ossetian representatives participated in the new
council.
Almost immediately after Gamsakhurdia's ouster, Sigua resumed
his position as prime minister and created a working group to
draft a new election law that would legitimize the next elected
government. Immediately after the overthrow of Gamsakhurdia, the
new government feared that Gamsakhurdia retained enough support
in Georgia to regain power in the next election. As a result, in
March the State Council adopted an electoral system, the single
transferable vote, which would virtually guarantee representation
by small parties and make it difficult for a party list headed by
one prominent figure to translate a majority of popular votes
into parliamentary control.
Data as of March 1994
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