The parliamentary majority has decided to reinitiate the impeachment process of Salome Zourabichvili. Such a statement made today the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament.

“As you know, on October 16, 2023, the Constitutional Court of Georgia, as part of the impeachment procedure, declared Salome Zurabishvili a violator of the Constitution and confirmed the rule established by Article 52 of the Constitution of Georgia that the President has the right to make a foreign visit only with the consent of the Government of Georgia.

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.

Before the court’s decision, foreign countries and organizations might have claimed they were unaware that the President needed government approval for such visits. However, after the ruling, any reception of Salome Zourabichvili without the required consent not only disrespects the Georgian people and their constitutional order but also violates the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and contradicts our shared European values.

The Constitution is the supreme act reflecting the will of the Georgian people, and its open and deliberate violation cannot go unanswered.

Therefore, the parliamentary majority had decided to resume the impeachment proceedings and prepare a new constitutional motion to the Constitutional Court, which would be presented before the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26.

Following the confirmation of the constitutional violation by the Court, the new Parliament, in its first sessions, will remove Salome Zourabichvili from the office through impeachment with no less than 100 votes”, - said Shalva Papuashvili.

He further highlighted that President’s term in office was set to end this year, and impeaching her would reduce her term by a month, stressing “while this may have a largely symbolic effect on the duration of her mandate, the legal and political significance of the decision remains critical”.

“We cannot allow the systematic, intentional, and gross violation of the Constitution to go unpunished. Zourabichvili must be remembered not as a former President, but as a removed President. This precedent will serve as a crucial deterrent to prevent future abuses of power and to strengthen Georgian democracy”, - added the Speaker.