The Constituent Assembly of Georgia and the Batumi Oblast
Loading...
Date
2019-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences
Abstract
The Constituent Assembly of Georgia (1919-1921) is the most important stage in the history of Georgian Parliamentarianism. The study of its experiences is multifaceted and interesting, including the care of the restoration of territorial integrity of Georgia. During the first year of the work of The Constituent Assembly the jurisdiction of the Democratic Republic of Georgia did not apply to Batumi Oblast and Batumi Oblast was only returned to Georgia in July 1920.
The Constituent Assembly systematically reviewed the issues of “marginal regions” and including the Batumi Oblast, the existing situation and the issue of their status in the state of Georgia.
The work is prepared on the basis of the content analysis of the
Stenographic Reports of The Constituent Assembly of Georgia (1919-
1921). The study showed, that in 1919 the condition in the Batumi Oblast was discussed on 7 meetings and in 1920 during 6 meetings of The Constituent Assembly. As a result of the survey the problems that were discussed in the respect of the mentioned Oblast are revealed. It was primarily to prevent the activities of hostile forces operating in the Batumi Oblast and to aid the development of a special state policy for integration the Batumi Oblast and its population into the Democratic Republic of
Georgia. For the Batumi Oblast in accordance with the request of local political forces of Adjara, it was considered necessary to introduce autonomous governance in the composition of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. The issue was discussed at the sessions of the Constituent Assembly as well as on the session of the constitutional commission established by the Constituent Assembly, which was included in the 1921 Constitution of Georgia under the relevant Article (107). The separate regulation of autonomous governance should be developed separately (Article 108). The paper discusses the debates on this issue.
Based on the biographical analysis, it was shown that three residents of the Batumi Oblast (Heidar Abashidze, Osman Mikeladze, Kadir Shervashidze) were members of the Constituent Assembly. It is important to consider the fact, that neither the main nor the additional elections have been held in Batumi Oblast. The work deals with the activities of these individuals in the Constituent Assembly.
The Batumi Oblast was the last region of Georgia, which remained in the hands of the Georgian government during the February-March War of
1921 and was also a place, where the Constituent Assembly of Georgia
completed its work. The last meeting of The Constituent Assembly was held in March 17, 1921 in the City Council building in Batumi. Based on the resolution, the Government of Georgia under the supervision of Noe Zhordania was granted the authorization. Afterwards he went into emigration to protect the interests of Georgia.
Description
Keywords
Georgia, The Constituent Assembly of Georgia, Batumi Oblast