three years. In 2016, he was amongst the founding members of Girchi, a libertarian political party in Georgia, alongside Zurab Japaridze and Iago Khvichia. He rapidly became popular amongst small government activists as an outspoken supporter of free markets. During the 2016 parliamentary election, he was in fourth place on the electoral list of the State for the People bloc, though the coalition collapsed days before the election and did not win any legislative seat. At the time, his campaign platform advocated laissez-faire economics and a strong opposition to welfare programs, public bureaucracy, and the growth of the public sector. In July 2018, he filed with Zurab Japaridze a lawsuit against Article 45 of Georgia's Administrative Code which outlined financial sanction guidelines for the recreational use of marijuana, arguing its incompatibility with the Constitution. The lawsuit became a groundbreaking case that resulted in the Constitutional Court abolishing all financial sanctions for marijuana use. That same year, he was arrested twice, including during the Tbilisi Cannabis Festival held during the October presidential election. When Girchi was split in two in December 2020 following the departure of Zurab Japaridze, he backed Chairman Iago Khvichia and remained in the party. At the time, he was criticized by former party members for making controversial statements. Member of Parliament Election and boycott During the 2020 parliamentary election, Vakhtang Megrelishvili was nominated by Girchi to run in the 12th Majoritarian District in Kvemo Kartli, running against 18 candidates, including major names like MP Irma Nadirashvili (European Georgia), former Governor Davit Kirkitadze (UNM), and Nino Latsabidze (Georgian Dream). Though he only received 3.3% of the vote, he won a parliamentary seat nonetheless, being third on Girchi's proportional electoral list. Along with the rest of the opposition, Megrelishvili declared a parliamentary boycott and refused to accept his seat after allegations of large-scale voter fraud surfaced, though he was one of the few MPs to not file for resignation. At the time, he was characterized for a more sobering position, opposing some of the more radical proposals of the opposition and favoring negotiations with the authorities. During inter-party opposition negotiations, he abruptly left the meeting alongside Iago Khvichia following disagreements over the anti-governmental forces' protest strategy. Though expressing doubt about the efficiency of the European and American embassies' involvement in mediating a resolution of the political crisis, he regularly called for political intervention by the United States and the