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The Parliament of Georgia resumed its work on Tuesday after riot police removed barricades and cleared the legislature’s entrances from protesters, Civil.ge news portal reported.

The session of the parliamentary bureau was held without the leaders of opposition factions, who are holding demonstrations outside the parliament building. Addressing the ruling party lawmakers attending the session, Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze expressed regret that the constitutional amendment on transition to the proportional electoral system by 2020 failed to gain enough support.

Talakvadze also commented on the rallies organized by opposition parties and civil rights activists, noting that downvoting the constitutional amendment triggered discontent of “one part” of citizens and that the right to express protest was protected.

To remind, the protests were sparked last week when the Georgian Parliament failed to pass a draft constitutional amendment, which would change the electoral system to proportional representation.

The move had been promised by the governing Georgian Dream party in the wake of massive demonstrations in June. Civic activists and opposition leaders claim that they will not end protests and will continue their rally until their demand for holding snap proportional parliamentary polls is met.