Georgian PM says Gov’t signed “all official requests” from President for foreign visits

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Saturday rejected claims by President Salome Zourabichvili that she had been denied approval for her foreign visits for meeting the country’s partners by saying “all official requests” for the President’s visits had been approved by the Government.

In the latest development in a controversy between the Government and the President over the latter’s international visits and the question of approvals of ambassadors of Georgia, Garibashvili said all requests for visits by Zourabichvili’s office, made “over the last few weeks”, had been signed.

The head of the Government also addressed Zourabishvili’s statement on her being mandated by the country’s Constitution to “make every effort” to “move [Georgia’s] European Union integration process forward”, including through use of international visits, by noting the Constitution mandated the Government - instead of the President - with carrying out both foreign and domestic policies.

In his critical response to Zourabichvili, the PM said officials “should follow strict enforcement of law” and “obey the Georgian Constitution and other rules” in their duties, the Government Administration said. He also noted he had held several meetings with European leaders to discuss the country's European integration and ongoing EU membership bid. 

Garibashvili called Zourabishvili’s statements “unfortunate” and said they “repeat the narrative of the destructive, harmful” domestic political opposition.

Earlier this week the Government filed a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court of Georgia, requesting a clarification from the Court over the separation of powers between the country’s President and Government, following a controversy between the Government and President over appointments of Georgian diplomats abroad.

The lawsuit followed a statement by the Government Administration earlier this year, which said the President had “repeatedly rejected” to appoint Government-nominated ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions over the past year. 

Zourabichvili’s office has denied rejecting the nominations, saying all 12 diplomatic candidates proposed by the Government between January 1, 2021 and March 21, 2022 had been approved by Presidential decrees.

In her turn, Zourabichvili has accused the Government of denying approval to her requests for official visits to meet international partners over the recent months. The comment followed Garibashvili saying in March the President “should have stayed in the country during difficult processes in the region”, in reference to her international visits on the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that started in February.