Ilia II, the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, said on October 7 it was time to consider establishing a constitutional monarchy.

He said with the end of the ancient Georgian royal dynasty of Bagrationi, upon Russia's annexation of Georgia in 1801, “it has been a dream of the Georgian people to have this dynasty restored.”

“I am saying this because today conditions exist which may help to make this dream of the Georgian people come true,” Illia II said in his Sunday sermon in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi.

The comments come amid political confrontation between the authorities and opposition parties. A group of ten opposition parties has launched a campaign calling for the abolition of the presidency and the creation of a parliamentary system of government.

“Discussions are currently underway on what type of Georgia we should have,” Illia II said. “Very often other states dictate to us what to do. Some tell us it should be a presidency and some say it should be a parliamentary [republic]. This is not up to others to decide. This is up to the Georgian people and people living in Georgia to decide.”