Irakli Kobakhidze claimed that the President of Georgia had violated the Constitution by making a series visits to foreign countries, without the consent of the government, at a briefing at the office of Georgian Dream after the end session of the political council. “Accordingly, the constitution only allows the government to implement the domestic and foreign policies of the country.
Kobakhidze claimed that it was “obvious”, that any European visit by the President of Georgia would be counterproductive to Georgia’s success at receiving candidate status. He also directly opposes efforts made by the Georgian Government to receive said status.
“Today the meeting of political council of our party was held. We discussed, among other things, the gross violation of Constitution of Georgia committed by the President of Georgia, who began a series of foreign visits without the consent of government. According to the Constitution, only the Georgian government has the authority to implement the country’s foreign and domestic policy.
According to Article 52, Sub-Clause A, of the Constitution of Georgia the President of Georgia may only exercise representative powers in international relations with the approval of government. The text of the Constitution leaves no room for a non-uniform reading. The public is aware that the President of Georgia takes a very different stance than the government in relation to the EU candidate status for Georgia. Her position is that Georgia didn’t deserve the candidate status in 2016.
“Moreover, she said, the parliament and government only formally fulfill the requirements of the European Union. This means, in her opinion that Georgia does not even deserve the status as a candidate.
“Given this attitude, it’s obvious that any European trip of the Georgian President is counterproductive in terms of Georgia’s chances of receiving the candidate status. It also directly opposes efforts by the Georgian Government to receive said status. Irakli Kobakhidze said that the Georgian government’s refusal to allow the President to make a European tour was justified from both a legal and political perspective.
He said that Salome Zurabishvili was trying to play a “kind of invincible” game.
“On one hand, she is aware that, from today’s perspective, the possibility of Georgia being granted candidate status has increased and she wants points for such an eventual development. She will also do everything she can to prevent Georgia from gaining candidate status.
“The Constitution of Georgia has only one effective legal mechanism to respond to its violation, and that is impeachment. We repeatedly pointed out yesterday and the day before that impeachment in the current political climate was impossible despite the gross violations of the Constitution. Impeachment requires 100 MPs to be in support. Without the votes of the radicals, there is no chance of it being implemented. We decided to start the impeachment process against the President Georgia at the party’s meeting. This is our duty before the Constitution of Georgia. By turning a blind-eye to gross violations of Constitution, we undermine the rule of law in a democratic constitutional state. The impeachment process will also expose the common agenda between Salome Zurabishvili and the radical opposition, which is against the interests of Georgia including its candidate status.
Kobakhidze stated that the signatures of members of the parliamentary majorities will be collected within the next few days and the relevant constitutional submission filed with the Constitutional Court of Georgia.
Georgian Dream has started an impeachment process against Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili. Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of Georgian Dream, made a similar statement at a press conference held this morning.
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