Georgia announces second impeachment procedures against President

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said the ruling Georgian Dream party was launching procedures for a second impeachment against President Salome Zurabichvili for unauthorised official visits abroad.

The speaker cited the October 2023 ruling by the Constitutional Court, which followed the first impeachment of Zurabichvili after it was initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party, and said it had declared the President a “violator of the Constitution” and confirmed the rule established by Article 52 of the Constitution that the President had the right to make a foreign visit only with the consent of the Georgian Government.

"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”, Papuashvili claimed.

He added the parliamentary majority had decided to relaunch the impeachment procedure and prepare a new constitutional motion, which would be submitted to the Constitutional Court before the October parliamentary elections.

Papuashvili said Zurabichvili's term of office was expiring this year, and an impeachment would shorten her term of office “by a maximum of one month”, adding her potential removal from office had a “largely symbolic meaning”.