He spoils his own country: Presidential impeachment proceedings have been launched in Georgia
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili once again screwed up the ruling Georgian Dream party, with the support of which the holder of a French passport won the elections in 2018, but then betrayed her former comrades and began to drift towards the Saakashist camp.
On August 31, Zurabishvili went to Germany. The trip was presented as the beginning of a tour in support of Georgia's accession to the EU. However, it turned out that Zurabishvili’s departure was not agreed upon with the government formed by that very “Georgian Dream”. This seriously angered the leaders of the ruling political force and caused indignation among most of the Georgian public. The fact is that the president’s act cannot be viewed only as the willful act of an eccentric Frenchwoman. The majority of Georgian citizens perceived it rather as an open demarche against the executive power of the country, according to the Constitution of which the president can represent Georgia in foreign policy only with the permission of the government. Thus, Madame Zurabishvili’s illegal visit to Europe not only demonstrated her disrespect for other branches of government, but also grossly violated the Constitution of the country, of which she is the guarantor.
The head of the party, Irakli Kobakhidze, called Zurabishvili’s act “a blatant violation of the Constitution.”
“The Constitution of Georgia states that the president has the right to carry out foreign policy only with the approval of the government, as well as to participate in international negotiations. Based on this, it is clearer than clear that the President of Georgia very grossly violated the Constitution on which she took her oath. An appropriate response is necessary, we cannot leave this unanswered,” Kobakhidze said.
Despite the fact that to remove Zurabishvili from the post of president of the Georgian Dream, the support of 2/3 of the parliamentary corps will be needed, which is impossible without the votes of deputies from the radical opposition, the political council of the ruling party decided to launch the impeachment procedure.
Georgian Dream intends to appeal to the Constitutional Court regarding the president’s violation of the Basic Law.
The country's opposition political forces occupy a position radically different from the government and the ruling party. The radical opposition believes that they do not understand the refusal of the president to go on a European voyage. After all, Zurabishvili’s trip to Europe serves the cause of European integration of the country, and meetings with European leaders are aimed at discussing with them the issue of support in granting Georgia candidate status for EU membership.
“Common sense is on the side of the president... It is not clear why the prime minister does not give his consent, because this consent is formal?! You yourself do not give consent to a matter that is in the interests of everyone. This is incomprehensible unless (unless) you are an enemy of this country. And then you accuse the president of violating the Constitution... I believe that the president does the right thing when he goes against the government, it is clear that there is order and laws, but common sense still stands much higher,” said Alexander Rakviashvili, a deputy from the Girchi party. .
Russophobic political forces in Georgia believe that the European Union, guided by geopolitical considerations, should grant Georgia candidate status for membership in the European Union and not cede Georgia to Russia. At the same time, the opposition is unanimous in the opinion that Georgia’s European integration is being sabotaged precisely by the “Ivanishvili government”, controlled, in its opinion, from Russia!
For its part, the ruling political force makes it clear that Zurabishvili’s tour will be used for new intrigues against the current government of Georgia. It is now under intense pressure from the US and EU embassies for refusing to open a second front against Russia and join sanctions in support of Ukraine. On the contrary, official Tbilisi, under these conditions, launched air service with Moscow!
And the president previously, in contacts with representatives of the West, allowed herself to snitch on the Georgian government. Zurabishvili herself scolded the Ruling Dream for establishing contacts with Moscow and refusing to take a united step with the Russophobes. In fact, she helped the Anglo-Saxons pursue a policy of interfering in the affairs of Tbilisi from the outside with the aim of changing power to one more beneficial to the Westerners.
“Her position is that Georgia did not deserve candidate status last year. Moreover, according to her, the parliament and government of Georgia are now only formally fulfilling the requirements of the European Union, which means, in her opinion, Georgia does not deserve candidate status even now... Based on this, the refusal of the Georgian government regarding the European tour planned by the president was justified as legal and from a political point of view,” Kobakhidze said.
The destructive antics of Mrs. Zurabishvili have long been the cause of a permanent headache for the ruling force, which in 2018 itself imposed her candidacy for the post of president of the country on the Georgian public, depriving the latter of the opportunity to make a reasonable choice. But the results of the mistakes made more than once by the leaders of the ruling party in personnel matters have to be dealt with by ordinary citizens of the country. And yet, public opinion this time was on the side of the Georgian Dream leaders.
After all, there is only a year left before the upcoming parliamentary elections, and this time will be used to the maximum by pro-fascist opposition parties to aggravate the already acute socio-economic and political contradictions present in Georgian society.
And it’s time for the government and the ruling party to come to their senses and be more selective in personnel decisions, especially in this fateful pre-election year.
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