Georgia's ruling pro-Russian party launches impeachment proceedings against President Zurabishvili
She is traveling extensively abroad to discuss Georgia's EU candidate status
Georgia is in a political crisis: on September 1, the ruling Georgian Dream party initiated impeachment proceedings against pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili over her recent visits to Europe that were not approved by the government, the France-Presse news agency reports.
The decision to launch the impeachment procedure was announced on Friday by the leader of the Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia party, Irakli Kobakhidze. According to him, Salome Zurabishvili "grossly violated" the country's Constitution, as the president can exercise representative functions in foreign policy only with the consent of the government.
The Georgian Cabinet of Ministers previously stated that they did not approve the president's trips to Germany, Belgium, Ukraine, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, the UAE, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Israel.
Irakli Kobakhidze, however, immediately admitted that "in the current political situation, impeachment cannot be carried out."
The leader of the ruling party explained: "To complete the impeachment procedure, the support of 100 parliamentarians is required, and therefore, without the votes of the radical opposition, it has no prospect of being implemented. Despite this, at a meeting of the party's political council, we decided to initiate the impeachment procedure against the President of Georgia."
The leader of the Georgian Dream also called the president's foreign visits "counterproductive" as they could allegedly hinder Georgia's accession to the European Union.
President Salome Zurabishvili was elected head of state in 2018 with the support of the Georgian Dream party. She is currently opposing the party's policy of actual rapprochement with Russia and has been traveling abroad to discuss issues related to Georgia's EU candidate status, AFP reports.
On Friday, she met in Brussels with European Council President Charles Michel, who "emphasized that the European Council's decision to grant Georgia a European perspective is a historic opportunity that should not be missed."
On Thursday, August 31, Salome Zurabishvili also held a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin that was not agreed upon with the government.
Background. As a reminder, Georgia has blocked the smuggling of cars from the United States and Europe to Russia.
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