President cancels unauthorised Danish trip after impeachment procedures
The President earlier claimed her visits had been aimed at helping the country obtain the European Union membership candidate status. Photo: President’s Office
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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 President, who earlier claimed her visits had been aimed at helping the country obtain the European Union membership candidate status in December, made no comments over the cancellation of the planned trip to Denmark.
Zourabichvili’s earlier visits, launched in defiance of the Government, were used in the ruling Georgian Dream party’s initiation of impeachment proceedings against her in the Parliament, where the party fell short of the required number of votes to successfully oust her. In the procedure, 86 MPs voted for her dismissal instead of the mandatory 100.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of GD, claimed the party’s motivation in initiating the impeachment in September was “not to leave the President’s violation of the country’s principal law without a response”.
Reacting to the impeachment proceedings, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili slammed Zourabichvili for her “unfounded allegations” over the Government’s failures in its work for Tbilisi’s EU candidacy, and for “deliberately violating the country’s Constitution”.
He further stressed “no-one in the country is above the law” in comments on the response of the party to the violations.
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 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.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday said that the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili “has chosen to descend to the level of destructive opposition”, instead of “openly” supporting the Government in the European integration process.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said the Political Council of the party had decided to initiate an impeachment procedure against President Salome Zourabichvili over her “gross violation” of the constitution through her departure on an official visit abroad without the Government’s authorisation.
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.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday claimed President Salome Zourabichvili did “not consider herself a child of this country” and thought Georgia was the “backyard of her presidential residence”, in criticism of her unauthorised foreign trips.
Aleko Elisashvili, the leader of the Citizens opposition party, on Friday said the prospect of President Salome Zourabichvili appointing Eka Beselia - a former member of the ruling Georgian Dream party - as the Chair of the Pardon Commission was a “disaster”.