TBILISI, September 4. /TASS/. Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, has started collecting lawmakers’ signatures to launch impeachment proceedings against President Salome Zurabishvili, party faction leader Mamuka Mdinaradze said on Monday.
"By Wednesday, we will prepare the documents and submit them to the committee on procedural issues, which will verify the signatures’ authenticity. After that, we will refer these documents to the Georgian Constitutional Court," he said.
On September 1, the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party announced it was launching the impeachment process following the president’s trip to Europe to meet with EU leaders, despite the government’s ban. In doing this, Zurabishvili violated the country’s constitution, which bars the president from representing the country abroad without the cabinet’s consent.
The signatures of at least one third of lawmakers, or 50 out of 150, are needed to apply to the Constitutional Court. In case it improves the impeachment move, the issue will be put to a vote. The president will be impeached if two thirds of lawmakers, or 100 out of 150, support the motion. The parliamentary majority has 84 votes and four lawmakers with the European Socialists party have also said they would vote to impeach.