Impeaching Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, accused of violating her country’s constitution by visiting European Union countries without the government’s authorization, is practically impossible because the ruling party is unlikely to secure the required minimum of 100 votes, the party’s leader said, TASS reports.
The leader of the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party, Irakli Kobakhidze, told the country’s Imedi television that the impeachment vote will be held "probably next week."
"We’ll see how the procedure goes. As you know, Salome Zourabishvili violated the constitution <…>, [but] securing 100 votes during the impeachment procedure next week is practically ruled out," he said.
On September 1, the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party announced it was launching the impeachment process following the president’s trip to Europe to meet with EU leaders, despite the government’s ban. In doing this, Zurabishvili violated the country’s constitution, which bars the president from representing the country abroad without the cabinet’s consent.
The signatures of at least one third of lawmakers, or 50 out of 150, are needed to apply to the Constitutional Court. In case it improves the impeachment move, the issue will be put to a vote. The president will be impeached if two thirds of lawmakers, or 100 out of 150, support the motion. The parliamentary majority has 84 votes and four lawmakers with the European Socialists party have also said they would vote to impeach.
