The impeachment of President Salome Zourabichvili, initiated in the parliament by the ruling party, failed to go through. 90 MPs registered for the vote, 86 of them supported the impeachment, and one – Aleko Elisashvili was against. 100 votes were needed to impeach the President.
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‘’All of us understand that the collective National Movement will not support the impeachment and vote against deposing Salome Zourabichvili. It was in hopes of their support that she kept violating the Constitution of Georgia – in the last year of her term, she will remain not the president of Georgia, but exclusively the president of the National Movement. What value her presidency will have in such terms, you can judge for yourself,’’ stated the Chairman of the ruling party Irakli Kobakhidze before the vote.
During her speech, Salome Zourabichvili said that with this impeachment attempt, Georgian Dream is pushing the country towards isolation.
‘’You had to provide evidence to support your accusations, and you failed to provide any! You could not come up with proof of what you appealed to, that I apparently sabotaged our European path, kept failing to deliver results, conducted negotiations when I wasn’t supposed to, so on and so forth… You could not prove that I did anything wrong, or that I spared any efforts in protecting our country and on our path to European integration. If you don't believe me, you can check with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Charles Michel, Emmanuel Macron, or Alar Karis, Edgars Rinkevics, Gitanas Nauseda... These are the leaders on whom the granting of our status depends, and it must be said, that with this impeachment attempt you insult not at all me, but these leaders and push the country towards isolation. At the same time,
the contrast of you treating the occupying country and its leaders with utmost respect speaks volumes, and you are not even embarrassed getting openly praised by them.
You are also not embarrassed that the comments from you and from the occupying country in my direction exactly coincide,’’ said the President.
On October 16, the Constitutional Court published its conclusion, which, by 6 votes against 3, established that the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, violated the Constitution.
The president called this decision shameful.
Chairman of Georgian Dream Irakli Kobakhidze hinted today at the possible criminal prosecution of the President: ‘’She is going to violate it [the Constitution] tomorrow too, what’s going to stop her? She is still relying on the support of the National Movement. What she cannot rely on is the Prosecutor’s Office and a criminal investigation.
The President addressed this remark: ‘’What do you think is supposed to scare me, a mention of the prosecutor's office? What should discourage me and force me to abandon this country? Don’t hope for that. Who can get in my way of fulfilling my pledge to the country? Just like I once removed the Russian bases from this country, and, by the way, they organized a trial for me then too, I will remain faithful to my word and oath and devote myself to this country, its independence, and the freedom of its people to the end on the way to Europe’’
