Ruling party falls short of votes for Georgian President’s impeachment in Parliament
The Parliament of Georgia held a session on the President’s impeachment on Wednesday. Photo: Parliament press office
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The ruling Georgian Dream party on Wednesday fell short of votes for President Salome Zourabichvili’s impeachment in the Parliament after 86 MPs voted for her dismissal instead of the mandatory 100.
The anticipated result came as the 150-member legislative body voted on the impeachment, however United National Movement - the largest opposition group in the Parliament - and Strategy Agmashenebeli boycotted the session. MPs from the ruling party as well as European Socialists, Girchi and Citizens voted in the hearing.
Zourabichvili herself was attending the session that came following the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Monday that backed her impeachment vote for violating the country’s Constitution through recent visits to Europe without the Government's authorisation.
In his comments following the Court’s ruling earlier this week, Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of GD, admitted his party “practically had no chances” of gathering enough votes to dismiss the President, but added the vote was being held as a matter of principle.
No matter how the impeachment procedure ends, we have already achieved the set goal - Zourabichvili’s violation of the Constitution was not left without a response, which will have a long-term preventive effect on the proper functioning of the Government system”, Kobakhidze said on Monday.
In his speech in the Parliament before the vote, Zourabichvili claimed she had violated “neither the essence nor the spirit of the Constitution”, and said the MPs who voted for her impeachment would go “against the country’s European future”.
The United National Movement and the Strategy Agmashenebeli opposition parties on Wednesday boycotted an impeachment session at the Georgian Parliament against President Salome Zourabichvili, as the ruling Georgian Dream party alleged an “alliance” between the President and “radical” domestic opposition groups.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Monday said she had “no plans to resign”, in response to the ruling by the country’s Constitutional Court earlier during the day which backed her impeachment initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party last month for her recent foreign visits without the Government's authorisation.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the Parliament would vote on impeachment of President Salome Zourabichvili this week, following the ruling by the country’s Constitutional Court earlier during the day that said the President had violated the Constitution through her recent trip in Europe without the Government's authorisation.
The Constitutional Court of Georgia on Monday concluded President Salome Zourabichvili had violated the country’s Constitution through her visits to Europe in late August and September without the Government's authorisation.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said he “did not rule out” that Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili could “grossly violate” the Constitution again in the future after the ruling party earlier today fell short of votes for President’s impeachment in the Parliament.
Rati Bregadze, the Georgian Justice Minister, on Wednesday said the Constitutional Court’s confirmation of President Salome Zourabichvili’s violation of the Constitution through her unauthorised foreign visits was “sad”.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Thursday reacted to the developments related to President Salome Zourabichvili’s impeachment by claiming she had “exchanged the legitimacy of 1.2 million voters for the legitimacy of several members of the United National Movement”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Sunday said the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili “only nominally” represented her position after the voting on her impeachment at the Parliament following the Constitutional Court’s ruling that she had violated the Constitution through holding foreign visits without the Government’s authorisation.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday claimed the party had been “informed” about plans involving President Salome Zourabichvili, former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and former Public Defender Nino Lomjaria forming a party for balloting in the 2024 Parliamentary Elections in the country.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said for the party Salome Zourabichvili "only nominally” remained the President of the country after the GD-initiated impeachment vote at the Parliament earlier this month following her foreign visits without Government authorisation.
President Salome Zourabichvili on Tuesday cancelled her planned visit to Denmark, which had not been authorised by the Government, in a move that follows the Constitutional Court’s ruling earlier this month that said she had violated the Constitution with earlier official foreign trips without approval of the Government, Imedi TV said.
The Georgian Government Administration on Thursday said President Salome Zourabichvili had not requested authorisation from the body for her planned visit to France for participation in the Paris Peace Forum between Friday and Saturday.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Monday said comments by the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who on Saturday said seeing the Chinese leader put on trial would be a “historic outcome”, were “damaging”, “ignored citizen’s interests” and “created embarrassment”.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has claimed she had “never explicitly refused” to pardon Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former President of the country, telling Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Georgian service this week she “refrain[ed] from commenting on pardons unless I [openly] state my intention to pardon someone”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Georgia, on Thursday said domestic anti-corruption laws could be revised if advised by the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee.
Mamuka Mdinaraze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Tuesday accused President Salome Zourabichvili of “acting as a member of the radical opposition”, being involved in “repeat violations” of the country’s constitution and in “creating a false narrative” over the newly appointed Prime Minister’s first foreign trip.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Thursday condemned President Salome Zourabichvili’s planned, unauthorised participation in the Munich Security Conference this week, claiming she was being “backed” by the United National Movement opposition party and her actions “harmed” the country’s international image.