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Georgia's Constitutional Court authorizes impeachment procedure against president

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Georgia's Constitutional Court authorizes impeachment procedure against president
Georgia's President Salome Zourabichvili gives a statement during a mini session on May 31, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

Georgia's Constitutional Court ruled that President Salome Zourabichvili violated the Constitution by her European trip and authorized the impeachment procedure against her, the Echo of Caucasus reported on Oct. 16.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Georgian news service reported that six members of the court supported the decision, and three were against it.

The motion was proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which criticized the pro-EU president for her visits to Berlin and Brussels as she sought support for Tbilisi's EU membership bid.

The governing party, which has been accused of pulling Georgia back into Russia's orbit, said that Zourabichvili's visit was against the will of the government and that the president "flagrantly violated" the constitution.

The motion will now move to the parliament, where it has to be supported by at least 100 lawmakers in order to pass.

The Georgian Dream and its coalition partner, People's Power, hold together only 84 of the 140 filled seats. According to the Echo of Caucasus, almost all opposition members of the parliament said they would vote against the impeachment, making the motion unlikely to succeed.

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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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