Georgian Authorities Initiate Impeachment Process

Georgian parliamentary majority members have gathered 81 signatures for a new petition to be submitted to the country’s Constitutional Court, concerning the violation of Article 52 of the Constitution by President Salome Zourabichvili. According to this article, the head of state must exercise representative powers abroad with the permission of the government.

The press service of the Georgian Parliament reported that the petition will be sent to the Constitutional Court in the upcoming hours. If the Constitutional Court rules that the president has violated the Constitution, the parliamentary majority intends to initiate impeachment proceedings against Zourabichvili.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, commenting on the parliamentary majority’s decision to start the impeachment process, stated that Zourabichvili should resign not as a former president but as an impeached president. “The acting president must resign through impeachment,” he said.

Kobakhidze noted that Zourabichvili’s impeachment would be symbolic as her presidential term ends in December. “The discussion regarding a new presidential candidate within the ruling ‘Georgian Dream’ party will take place immediately after the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26,” the Prime Minister said.

Last October, the parliamentary majority had already commenced the impeachment process against Zourabichvili, but the matter failed during voting due to insufficient votes.