Lawmakers from Georgia's ruling party opened the first session of parliament on Monday after last month's disputed election, defying protesters outside and a boycott by opposition parties who say the vote was illegitimate.

Georgia’s ruling party convened parliament for its first session since last month’s election even as opposition lawmakers enforced a boycott and protesters continued street demonstrations over the results.

By Ailis Halligan in Tbilisi Several thousand protesters, led by Georgia’s pro-Western opposition, gathered on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue on the evening of November 24 to contest the legitimacy of the inaugural session of the new Georgian parliament.