Georgian president accuses ruling party of violating constitution

Georgian President accuses ruling party

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili accuses the parliamentary majority of violating Article 78 of the Constitution. The article concerns integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures. The president stated this in an interview with Channel One.

Salome Zurabishvili also clarified details of her informal meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, which the ruling party declared a violation of the constitution. According to the president, during this visit, relations between Georgia and the European Union were already difficult and tense. In her view, the visit did not violate the constitution:

“I will say again that if it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t know if we could apply for EU candidate status and what kind of reaction to expect, because the relationship between us and the European Union was already quite complicated. In order not to make this visit problematic, I made it a private visit. There was no violation because I went privately.”

According to the president, she acted in accordance with article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, which has instead been violated by the parliamentary majority. As she sees it, they are preventing Georgia from advancing along the path of European integration.

“We must do everything possible to promote integration. If you take actions to prevent this from happening, it will be a violation of the constitution,” Zurabishvili said.

When asked why the ruling party would want to delay European integration, the president replied that she did not know.

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Rati Ionatamishvili, deputy of the parliamentary majority, responded to president’s interview. As he put it, “it is very shameful” when the president does not understand the limits of their power and “does not understand the issues.”

A History of Opposition

This is not the first time the ruling party and the president have clashed.

Ruling Georgian Dream party accuses President Zurabishvili of disrupting Georgia's EU accession

“President Zurabishvili repeats messages of radical opposition” – ruling party accuses Georgian President of disrupting Georgia’s EU accession

On March 15, Georgian Dream reported that President Salome Zurabishvili had violated the country’s constitution. They stated that a constitutional court case would be filed against her over this. Salome Zurabishvili’s February meeting with Emmanuel Macron was then labeled a violation of the constitution.

There has not yet been a case in Georgia of an incumbent president being brought before a constitutional court for violating the constitution.

The president’s annual report to the parliament stirred disatisfaction in the ruling party.

Zurabishvili appeared in parliament with the interim representative of Ukraine and showed photos of the war in Ukraine. In her speech, she also criticized the government for its lukewarm policy regarding Ukraine.