We, as a rather fresh, democratic, political culture, are not terribly pampered by providence with an opportunity like an impeachment of a political bigwig for a wrongdoing. The history of this nation does not know of anything of this sort and caliber, but behold, there came a rare, but unique opportunity to hone our political ethos.
The President of the Republic herself fell under the rumble of truly out-of-the-blue impeachment thunder. Hardly believable, but a fact of life! The lady in question was not even born in Georgia. Had this happened in America, she would never have been elected to the uncannily attractive position of head of state, a post with a minimum of obligations and a maximum chance to trot the world at the expense of our yet to rebel taxpayers. Well, the President has not lost her enviably cushy job as an outcome of the trial in the country’s legislative body, but this might be far less important than the political takeaways we are going to gain as a result of this overly talked about political cause célèbre.
In the first place, the given option of impeaching a high-ranking official is something significant as such, carrying a novel rationale of democracy, freedom, and national independence in itself. If West is the destination, then nothing could be more western than the political will, freedom and readiness to attempt to thwart a breach of law. Secondly, it was a serious opportunity to publicly try, on the parliamentary floor, the persuasive skill and political acumen of our still-young politicians, the entire nation wondering if they can cope with their imperative function of plaintiff and defending side; their clash before a renowned bunch of competent judges can spark in the nation either the hope that the state has a chance to survive, or the fear that it is doomed in its underdeveloped ability to reveal the truth. Thirdly, this kind of bombastic trial will become a series of lectures in jurisprudence for a good number of our young men and women majoring in law at numerous universities of the country.
I remember the trial of attorney Anita Hill and Justice Clarence Thomas in the United States in 1991, which turned into the most widely taken crash-course ever; this analogy between the American and our Georgian trial cases might very well be justified if we look deeper into our lady president’s impeachment case, which will definitely turn into one of the most powerful practical courses in constitutional law in the history of Sakartvelo.
There is a fourth reason why this presidential impeachment trial in Georgia might do a good service to this nation: it is a clear and present signal to our politicians that nobody can remain above the law, and impeachment for a high-caliber political misdemeanor can be anybody’s lot in the future, so beware every single politician who wants to go against the functioning law to perpetuate his or her political philosophy and serve one’s personal career target.
No less important than the previous ones, is the fifth reason why this impeachment trial could be beneficial to our people: we did it fairly and correctly, and, of course, to a high professional level, so the European family of nations has one more reason to reckon us a truly deserving aspirant to the Western ranks.
I have nursed one more, and final, argument for thinking that this impeachment trial makes us look better than we could have looked without it, and that is the naturally-born necessity to better think of the next challenger of presidency before the candidate is offered to our public to vote for. ‘To think better’ in this context means nothing less than the creation of the candidates extremely detailed truthful profile, created by the services that be, well in advance of the election time, so that the electorate knows for sure who exactly the votes are being cast for, and whether the made choice is actually conducive to the indisputable well-being of our people.
Working in mutual understanding and fruitful cooperation, the triad of legislative, executive and judicial powers, assisted and balanced by impartial and helpful presidential authority, even as formal as it happens to be, could seriously contribute to that kind of teamwork. Anything short of this would unquestionably distract the country and its government from the main job they are doing, again, to the detriment of our good people.
Op-Ed by Nugzar B. Ruhadze
