Parliament Speaker announces second impeachment procedures against President

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday said the ruling Georgian Dream party was launching procedures for a second impeachment against President Salome Zourabichvili for unauthorised official visits abroad.

Papuashvili cited the October 2023 ruling by the Constitutional Court, which followed the first impeachment of Zourabichvili after it was initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party, and said it had declared the President a “violator of the Constitution” and confirmed the rule established by Article 52 of the Constitution that the President had the right to make a foreign visit only with the consent of the Georgian Government.

After confirming the fact of violation of the Constitution, Salome Zourabichvili kept the position of the President only at the expense of the support of parliamentarians representing the radical opposition. Salome Zourabichvili received a guarantee of inviolability from the radical opposition in violation of the Constitution, and later she continued to violate the Constitution. In particular, even after the completion of the impeachment procedure, she made several foreign visits without the consent of the Georgian Government, including last week she visited France, Germany, Poland and Belgium”, the Speaker claimed.

Papuashvili further added the parliamentary majority had decided to relaunch the impeachment procedure and prepare a new constitutional motion, which would be submitted to the Constitutional Court before the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26.

After the confirmation of the violation of the Constitution by the Constitutional Court of Georgia, the Parliament of the new convocation will remove Salome Zourabichvili from office by impeachment with at least 100 votes in the very first sessions”, he continued.

Papuashvili added Zourabichvili's term of office was expiring this year, and an impeachment would shorten her term of office “by a maximum of one month”, adding her potential removal from office had a “largely symbolic meaning”. 

Therefore, the impeachment process to remove her from office has primarily symbolic significance in terms of the duration of her powers; however, the legal and political implications of this decision are highly significant. Our Constitution is the fundamental act in which the will of the Georgian people is particularly reflected; therefore, its deliberate, open, and brazen violation cannot go unaddressed”, Papuashvili said. 

The Speaker further noted that receiving Zourabichvili without the mandatory consent of the Government of Georgia constituted deliberate disrespect of the Georgian people and their constitutional order, and it violated the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of the country.