Constitutional Court of Georgia greenlights proceedings to impeach President Salome Zourabichvili

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Georgia has granted the Georgian parliament’s request to proceed with impeaching the country’s president, Salome Zourabichvili.

Six of out nine justices of the court were in favor of letting the parliament go ahead with the impeachment. The court ruled that Zourabichvili violated the Georgian Constitution by traveling abroad and meeting with foreign officials without prior clearance from the Georgian government.

The republic’s ruling party Georgian Dream launched a campaign to impeach Zourabichvili in September, arguing that the president traveled on official visits despite the government’s refusals to clear those trips. In late August, the parliament reported that it withheld clearance from 10 official visits made by the president. The following day, Zourabichvili flew to Germany, for another official visit.

It is now the parliament’s turn to proceed with the impeachment. The Russian news outlet RIA Novosti points out that if 100 Georgian legislators vote to impeach the president, this will lead to Zourabichvili’s removal from office.

Georgian Dream has a majority in the republic’s parliament, with 84 seats out of 150. As a parliamentary republic, Georgia places significant limitations on the executive branch of its government.

Salome Zourabichvili has been in office since December 16, 2018. She is a frequent critic of the parliament’s decisions and of Georgian Dream’s role in steering the country towards a rapprochement with Vladimir Putin and Russia.