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At a plenary session on Wednesday, Georgia’s one-party parliament voted to strip 49 opposition MPs of their mandates. The decision, backed by the Georgian Dream committee on procedural issues, was met with applause from the ruling party’s deputies, JAMnews reported.

The parliament, which was originally supposed to have 150 members, is now reduced to 101.

The mandates belonged to members of the opposition coalitions Unity – National Movement, Coalition for Change, and Strong Georgia.

The party Gakharia for Georgia remains in parliament with 12 seats but, like other opposition groups, has declared the October 26 elections illegitimate and refuses to participate in parliamentary activities.

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili defended the decision, stating: “Those who attempt to blackmail democracy and the people of Georgia will always receive a fair, constitutional, and lawful response.”

He also claimed that opposition MPs in the previous parliament had not worked a single day in office.