"I thank my representatives in court who withstood psychological pressure" - Georgian President on impeachment

Salome Zurabishvili on impeachment

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, whose impeachment hearings resumed at the Constitutional Court on October 4, thanked her representatives in the court, Tamar Chugoshvili and Maia Kopaleishvili.

“Thank you to my representatives, who during the unprecedented trial withstood all kinds of psychological, moral pressure and insults both in my and their address, and in the face of absurd accusations and non-existent evidence worthily defended the institution of the country’s president.”

In turn, Chugoshvili said that today she only made sure that the president did not violate the constitution.

“Today I was even more convinced of what I already knew: the President of Georgia has not violated the constitution. What we are hearing is only aimed at the fact that the President of Georgia is simply isolated from the possibility of representing the country in any way, and it is necessary in order to prevent her from doing what she does best – representing this country, especially in the context of European integration.”

The Constitutional Court held its first hearing in the impeachment case yesterday.

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On September 1, 2023, the ruling Georgian Dream party started impeachment proceedings against the president. They claim the president grossly violated the constitution when she made several visits to foreign countries without the consent of the government: August 31 with the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, September 1 with the President of the European Council and September 6 with the President of France.

Zurabishvili stated that she makes foreign visits on her own funds and lobbies abroad to grant Georgia the status of candidate for EU membership.

Constitutional Court Chairman Merab Turava told reporters that “the Georgian president’s presence at the Constitutional Court session was expected.”

“The participation of representatives instead of her may prevent a perfect decision from being made. The president’s representatives will not be able to give details about the president’s visits and will only have answers to legal questions.”

Turava told reporters that if the Constitutional Court is not satisfied with the outcome of today’s case, then the president will be invited to personally attend the hearing tomorrow, October 4.

If the Constitutional Court agrees with the ruling party’s statement, the impeachment issue will go to parliament for a vote. It needs 100 votes for approval, and the ruling party needs to be able to get opposition MPs on its side if it is to succeed.

Inside the opposition, it is not ruled out that the Georgian Dream will manage to recruit some opposition members and get the 100 votes needed for impeachment.