Georgia’s late former prime minister Zurab Zhvania was awarded Parliamentary Freedom Order at his 60th birthday anniversary-dedicated event held at the Georgian Parliament.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili awarded the order to Zurab Zhvania’s widow Nino Zhvania. The Speaker remarked former PM’s special merit in the history of Georgian parliamentarianism.

“Today is the 60th birthday of Zurab Zhvania. He has special merit in the development of Georgia’s democracy, the formation of state institutions and the development of parliament and parliamentarianism. He assumed the post of Parliament Chairman at the age of 31 and passed away at the age of 41, but during the period, when in politics and chairing parliament, he contributed a lot to the procedural formation of a parliament and legislative activities and strengthening supervisory functions and introduction of idea of politics,” he said.

Zurab Zhvania was a Georgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia. Zhvania was found dead in a rented apartment early in the morning of 3 February 2005 from what officials claimed was carbon monoxide poisoning caused by an inadequately ventilated gas heater.