Georgian parliament speaker announces 2nd impeachment process against president

ISTANBUL

Georgia’s parliament speaker on Monday announced that a second impeachment process would be initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party against President Salome Zourabichvili.

According to local media outlets, including public broadcaster 1TV, Shalva Papuashvili said in a briefing that Zourabichvili conducted visits to multiple European countries last week without the consent of the government.

She argued that under the constitution, the president has the right to make a foreign visit only with the consent of the government.

Papuashvili further said that the parliamentary majority has also decided to prepare a new constitutional submission, which he said will be submitted to the country’s Constitutional Court before the parliamentary elections later this month.

Last October, an impeachment process against Zourabichvili was initiated for the same reasons, but it failed to get the 100 votes needed in parliament.

The restart of the impeachment process comes as the South Caucasus country is set to hold a parliamentary election on Oct. 26, in which the Georgian Dream party will seek a fourth term in office.

Zourabichvili has yet to comment on Papuashvili’s remarks.