The Georgian Dream party has once again initiated impeachment proceedings against the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili. Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili says that a new constitutional proposal will be submitted to the Constitutional Court of Georgia before the parliamentary elections. If a constitutional violation is confirmed, the new parliament will remove Salome Zourabichvili from office through impeachment, requiring at least 100 votes in its first sessions.
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As Papuashvil stated, on October 16, 2023, the Constitutional Court of Georgia confirmed the rule established by Article 52 of the Constitution, stating that the president can make a foreign visit only with the approval of the government.
"Salome Zourabichvili retained the presidency solely through the support of parliamentarians from the radical opposition. She received immunity from the radical opposition in the matter of constitutional violations and continued to breach the Constitution of Georgia. Specifically, even after the impeachment procedure, she made several foreign visits without the consent of the Georgian government, including trips to France, Germany, Poland, and Belgium last week," Papuashvili said.
The Speaker of Parliament further stated that the reception of Salome Zourabichvili by foreign leaders and organizations without the required consent of the Georgian government "constitutes not only intentional disrespect toward the Georgian people and its constitutional order but also a violation of the principle of non-interference in a country's internal affairs, which goes against our shared European values."
"Our Constitution is the fundamental act that embodies the will of the Georgian people; therefore, its deliberate, open, and brazen violation cannot go unanswered.
As a result, the parliamentary majority decided to restart the impeachment process and prepare a new constitutional submission, which will be presented to the Constitutional Court of Georgia before the parliamentary elections.
Once the Constitutional Court confirms the violation of the Constitution, the new convocation of Parliament will remove Salome Zourabichvili from office through impeachment, requiring at least 100 votes in the first sessions.
As you know, Salome Zourabichvili's term of office expires this year. Thus, impeaching her will shorten her term by no more than a month. While this carries mostly symbolic weight in terms of the length of her term, the legal and political significance of this decision is highly principled.
We cannot allow the deliberate, gross, and systematic violation of the supreme law of the Georgian people to go unpunished.
Salome Zourabichvili, as a violator of the Constitution, should not be remembered as a former president but as a deposed president, setting a crucial precedent to prevent such arbitrariness in the future and to strengthen Georgian democracy," Papuashvili emphasized.
Last week, Salome Zourabichvili was in Europe, where she participated in the Warsaw Security Forum and met with the presidents of France, Poland, and Germany, as well as the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council.
The Georgian Dream party attempted to impeach Salome Zourabichvili a year ago, but only 86 MPs supported the motion. Impeachment requires 100 votes, which the ruling party does not currently have in the tenth convocation of Parliament.
