The decision of October 16 will be remembered not as a victory for the rule of law, but as a consolidation of one-party supremacy over the judicial system – the Constitutional Court disregarded and undermined Article 78 of the Constitution on European integration, the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, announced at the plenary session of the Parliament, where the issue of her impeachment is being discussed.
She claimed that the Constitutional Court, on which a legal and democratic state should stand, completely left its role, moved to the political sphere and could not stand up to the political will of the party.
“This day has come too, Georgia has witnessed this too, the impeachment of the President is being held for the first time and you are proud of it. You pretend that you assert the supremacy of the law in this process. At this time, the decision of October 16 will be remembered not as a victory for the rule of law, but as a consolidation of one-party supremacy over the judicial system.
The Constitutional Court disregarded and undermined Article 78 of the Constitution on European integration. That is, it itself did not fulfill the obligation imposed by this article, which applies to all and not exclusively the government, all constitutional bodies.
The fact that the Constitutional Court was guided by the political argumentation of the chairman of the ruling party and fully conveyed it in the conclusion is shocking.
Nevertheless, it is significant that the three judges were able to save not only their reputation, but also the reputation of Georgia’s justice system, reviving our centuries-old proud tradition of justice. Their different opinion will spread in the country and abroad, their independence and professionalism will be recognized. Tomorrow’s students will be proud of this and will grow up on this example. This is promising!” – said Zurabishvili.
The discussion of the issue of the removal of the President from office by impeachment began at the plenary session of the Parliament.
The impeachment is being conducted in the form of first reading of the draft law, which means that questions will be asked at the plenary session and there will be speeches with political statements.
It should be noted that when Salome Zurabishvili entered the Parliament hall, only a few MPs from the opposition stood up.
Majority leader Irakli Kobakhidze presented the impeachment issue of the President.
At the plenary session of the Parliament, the majority listens to Kobakhidze’s report with almost the entire composition, while from the opposition it’s Girchi MPs, Aleko Elisashvili and European Socialists.
Today, after discussion, the issue will be put to a vote. 100 votes are needed to impeach the President.
