June 10, 2004 - 22:39 AMT
GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER PROUD HIS MOTHER IS ARMENIAN
My mother is Armenian and I will always speak proudly about it, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania stated in the Parliament today in response to Deputy Gocha Pipia's claim that Government members report their and their parents' national and religious identity. As reported by Georgian sources, Pipia's address caused indignation among the leadership of the Parliament and Government, who qualified such statements of the Deputy as anti-constitutional. As a sign of protest members of the Georgian Government left the conference hall. Zurab Zhvania stated he would recall it "with shame that such a question was raised in the Georgian Parliament."