The Georgian Constitutional Court has authorized the launch of impeachment proceedings against the president
The Constitutional Court (CC) of Georgia has authorized the launch of impeachment proceedings against President Salome Zurabishvili, who violated the law by traveling abroad, despite a ban from the government. This was announced by the chairman of the court, Merab Turava.
“On August 31, September 1 and 6, 2023, during foreign working visits, Zurabishvili exercised representative powers in the field of foreign policy without the consent of the government, thereby violating the establishment of paragraphs. “a” clause 1 art. 52 constitutions. The court found that this action was a violation of the constitution,” he said (quote according to RIA Novosti).
According to Turava, six of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court agreed with this position, and therefore it was approved. In the future, the issue of impeachment must be considered in parliament. The president will be removed from office if 100 deputies vote for it (there are 150 seats in the Georgian parliament).
Later, the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze reportedthat a parliamentary vote on impeachment will take place this week. He also noted that from now on Zurabishvili will perform his duties as president formally.
September 23 Constitutional Court of Georgia accepted the constitutional proposal for the impeachment of Zurabishvili, which was previously submitted by the ruling Georgian Dream party, is being considered. It has 84 seats in parliament.
The ruling party made this decision because of Zurabishvili’s trip to Europe, despite the government’s refusal. On August 31, she went to meetings with European leaders in support of granting Georgia candidate country status for EU membership. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili clarified that the main reason was Zurabishvili’s speech in parliament, during which she stated that Georgia did not receive candidate status for EU membership because it did not deserve it.
