TBILISI, October 16. /TASS/. Georgia’s Constitutional Court has upheld the ruling party’s motion to impeach President Salome Zurabishvili for violating the country’s constitution by visiting foreign countries without the government’s approval.
The court ruling was read out live by the chief justice, Merab Turava.
"The Georgian Constitutional Court has established that during her working foreign visits on August 31, September 1, and September 6, 2023, Georgian President Mrs Salome Zurabishvili exercised representative powers and authority in the area of international relations without the Georgian government’s consent, which constituted a violation of part 1a of the Georgian Constitution’s Article 52," Turava said.
Six out of the nine judges on the Georgian Constitutional Court Board voted in favor of the decision. According to Turava, the ruling is final and not subject to appeal. After the ruling is referred to the country’s parliament, the issue of whether to impeach the president will be put to a vote some time in the next two weeks.
Zurabishvili visited Berlin, Brussels, and Paris in late August and early September and met with high-ranking officials. It was reported later that she was not authorized to do this by the Georgian government. This served as grounds for the ruling party, Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia, to accuse her of breaching the country’s constitution and launch impeachment procedures.
On October 5, the court completed hearings on the impeachment-related motion after which it deliberated to make a decision. The president will be impeached if 100 out of the 150 lawmakers vote in favor. The ruling party has 84 seats in the national legislature.