The chairman of Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced that the vote on the issue of impeachment of the President will be held in parliament this week.
Kobakhidze announced this at the briefing and explained that “in the current week, the majority of deputies elected by the Georgian people in 2020 will confirm that Salome Zurabishvili is no longer worthy to hold the high status of the President of Georgia.”
“Today, the Constitutional Court of Georgia confirmed the simple truth that Salome Zurabishvili repeatedly, deliberately and grossly violated the Constitution of Georgia, thereby blatantly opposing the constitutional order and the system of parliamentary governance established by the Constitution.
The Constitutional Court of Georgia had the simplest legal case to solve: the powers of the President of Georgia in the field of foreign relations are determined by Article 52 of the Constitution of Georgia, according to which the President can exercise representative powers in foreign relations and conduct negotiations only with the approval of the government; Salome Zurabishvili was fully informed about this constitutional provision and she systematically requested the approval of the Georgian government to carry out both working and ceremonial visits; In the absence of consent, Salome Zurabishvili still made working visits to Germany, France and Brussels, thereby violating the Constitution of Georgia and, moreover, intentionally and grossly undermining the constitutional order of Georgia.
With this decision, the Constitutional Court of Georgia also confirmed the simple truth that according to the Constitution of Georgia, Georgia is a parliamentary republic, where the domestic and foreign policy of the country is defined and implemented only by the Parliament and the Government.
Salome Zurabishvili betrayed the Constitution of Georgia and the oath taken on the Constitution of Georgia. In the current week, the majority of deputies elected by the Georgian people in 2020 will confirm that she is no longer worthy to hold the high status of the President of Georgia. If Salome Zurabishvili had retained her basic dignity, naturally, after the Constitutional Court found the violation of the Constitution of Georgia, she would immediately resign from the position of the President of Georgia. However, we also understand that Salome Zurabishvili is not independent in her decisions, and she cannot make a decision to resign without the consent of the forces that pushed her to grossly violate the Constitution of Georgia.
By the end of the current session week, the Parliament of Georgia will hold a vote on the impeachment of Salome Zurabishvili from the position of the President of Georgia. We understand that Salome Zurabishvili violated the Constitution of Georgia in hopes of a collective National Movement, and therefore, there is practically no chance of gathering 100 votes to remove her. However, we hope that at least a few opposition MPs will have enough patriotism or professional dignity to not leave Salome Zurabishvili’s gross violation of the Georgian Constitution and going against the constitutional order without a response.
No matter how the impeachment procedure ends, we have already achieved the set goal – Salome Zurabishvili’s violation of the Georgian Constitution was not left without a response, which will have a long-term preventive effect on the proper functioning of the governance system.
As for the President who violates the Constitution of Georgia, she is only formally considered the president of Georgia from now on. In the last, sixth year of her presidency, she will be completely deprived of political and moral legitimacy and will remain, to use American terminology, a so-called “lame duck” that is chasing the collective National Movement heading towards the abyss,” said Kobakhidze.
For information, the Constitutional Court today published a conclusion on the submission for impeachment of the President.
The court determined that there was a violation of the country’s Constitution on the party of President Salome Zurabishvili by her making unauthorized visits to Europe. The Chairman of the court noted that three judges – Irina Imerlishvili, Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze and Teimuraz Tughushi – expressed a different opinion on the conclusion.
Related Story: The Constitutional Court rules that the President violated the Constitution
