parliamentary chairperson
What was the position of Nino Burjanadze between Jul 2002 and Sep 2003?
Nino Burjanadze Nino Burjanadze ( Georgian : ნინო ბურჯანაძე , also romanized Burdzhanadze or Burdjanadze , born 16 July 1964 ) is a Georgian politician and lawyer who served as Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia from November 2001 to June 2008 . As the first woman she has served as the acting head of state of Georgia twice ; the first time from 23 November 2003 to 25 January 2004 in the wake of Eduard Shevardnadzes resignation during the Rose Revolution , and again from 25 November 2007 to 20 January 2008 , when Mikheil Saakashvili stepped down to rerun in the early presidential elections . She withdrew into opposition to Saakashvili as the leader of the Democratic Movement-United Georgia party in 2008 . In October 2013 , she ran in the presidential election , competing against 22 candidates . She ended third with 10 percent of the vote . Early life and career . Nino Burjanadze was born in Kutaisi , then-Soviet Georgia . She graduated in 1986 from the Faculty of Law of the Tbilisi State University ( TSU ) and afterwards pursued education at the Moscow State University from which she graduated with a doctorate in International Law in 1990 . In 1991 , she became a docent ( Associate Professor ) of the Faculty of International Law at the Tbilisi State University . At the same time , she worked as an expert-consultant in international law for the Parliament of Georgia and the Ministry for Environment Protection and Natural Resources . Political career . In 1995 , Burjanadze was elected to the Parliament of Georgia for the Union of Citizens of Georgia ( UCG ) then chaired by the President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze and supported financially by her father Anzor Burjanadze , a wealthy businessman . She first chaired the Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Law from 1998 to 1999 , and the Parliamentary Committee for International Relations from 2000 to 2001 . During the years , she became known as a supporter of pro-Western values and proponent of Georgias integration with NATO and the European Union . She was closely allied with the reformist wing within the UCG led by Mikheil Saakashvili and Zurab Zhvania whom she succeeded on November 9 as the parliamentary chairperson after Zhvania resigned on November 1 , 2001 . Although she gave Shevardnadze strong support in his dealings with foreign countries ( in particular with Russia ) , she spoke out forcefully against the corruption and inefficiency of his governments domestic policy , declaring it to be absolutely incompetent . She left the UCG in 2002 , forming an opposition party called the Burjanadze-Democrats to fight the November 2003 parliamentary elections . After the rigged parliamentary elections of 2 November 2003 , she joined other opposition leaders in denouncing the election results and urging mass demonstrations against Shevardnadze . The terms of the Georgian constitution automatically made her the acting president when Shevardnadze resigned on 23 November . One of Burjanadzes first actions was to appeal for national unity and repeal the state of emergency declared by Shevardnadze , in an effort to restore stability to a country with a long history of political violence . She was an obvious candidate for the post , as she is widely respected by her compatriots - opinion polling in 2003 showed her to be one of s three most popular political figures . On 4 January 2004 , Mikhail Saakashvili won the pre-term presidential elections in with an overwhelming majority . He was inaugurated on 25 January . A new was elected on 28 March , with Burjanadze resuming her old post as Speaker on 22 April . Following a political crisis in late 2007 , Saakashvili called new parliamentary and presidential elections for January 2008 . In order to contest the presidential election , Saakashvili announced his resignation effective 25 November 2007 , with Burjanadze becoming acting president for a second time ( until the election returned Saakashvili to office on 20 January 2008 ) . Burjanadze was designated to lead the United National Movement party list for the parliamentary elections scheduled on 21 May 2008 , but on 21 April she announced , in a surprise move , that she would not seek reelection due to a lack of consensus in the compilation of the National Movements party list . Burjanadzes term as a parliamentary chairperson expired with the new legislatures inaugural session on 7 June 2008 , when she was succeeded by David Bakradze . In June 2008 , Burjanadze announced she would set up a think tank that would serve as a new form of being in politics . The organization — the Foundation for Democracy and Development ( FDD ) — was inaugurated in Tbilisi on 7 July 2008 . On 27 October 2008 , in the aftermath of the 2008 South Ossetia war between Russia and Georgia , Burjanadze announced the establishment of a clear-cut opposition party called Democratic Movement–United Georgia . On 28 November 2008 , in an interview with Russias Vesti news channel , Russias NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin accused the United States of planning to replace Mikheil Saakashvili with Burjanadze as president of Georgia . On March 23 , 2009 , the Georgian interior ministry confirmed , that 10 of the activists from Burdzhanadzes party , Democratic Movement–United Georgia had been arrested . Burdzhanadze accused Mikheil Saakashvili of arranging the arrests to intimidate the opposition . Burdzhanadze said the arrests marked the start of a punitive campaign by the government against the opposition , ahead of the mass protest planned for April 9 to demand Saakashvilis resignation . 2011 protests . The protests led by Burzhanadze began on May 21 , 2011 when over 10,000 Georgians attended a demonstration in Tbilisi demanding Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvilis resignation . In the southwestern town of Batumi some demonstrations also occurred with some protesters attempting to break into the television building . Nino Burjanadze has been a lead figure in the demonstrations . The protesters in Batumi briefly clashed with police . On 26 May at about 00:15 , Georgian police began to suppress the protests with tear gas and rubber bullets . The following year , the ruling party lost parliamentary elections . Political positions . - Burjanadzes position as it relates to Soviet symbols is that they should not be banned . According to her , it is because Georgian soldiers in the Red Army fought under Soviet symbols during World War II . Half the world fought against the Nazis with Soviet symbols . Instead of banning them , the state should concentrate on today’s problems and stop acting like fools Burjanadze stated in 2018 . Personal life . Burjanadze is married to Badri Bitsadze , the former head of the Department of Georgian State Border Defence , who stood down shortly after Burdjanadzes political transformation . They have two sons . Aside from the Georgian language , she is fluent in the Russian and English languages . External links . - Nino Burjanadze ( official biography ) . Parliament of Georgia .