12 angry Georgians

So many votes are not enough for the ruling party of Georgia when voting by impeachment Salome Zurabishvili

Salome Zurabishvili, the fifth president of Georgia, will clearly remain in history, unlike most politicians from the encirclement of Bidzina Ivanishvili. In addition to the fact that she is the first female president in the region, she can also deprive her for the first time in the history of the country through impeachment.

Salome Zurabishvili always knew the price: a Parisian from a family of famous Georgian emigrants, a citizen of France, worked all her life in French diplomacy. In 2004, she was invited to Georgia by the Third President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili and immediately appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs. She worked in the government for a year, was noted in organizing the withdrawal of Russian military bases from the country, after which she left the post, but did not leave the country, although she did not achieve much popularity with the opposition. In 2018, the Georgian Dream suggested that Zurabishvili become president in the parliamentary republic to perform the functions of a state symbol and diplomat with special powers. This was supposed to be the top of her career and the embodiment of the cherished dream.

The founder of the party, billionaire Bidzin Ivanishvili himself, the France citizen himself, publicly admired the French accent Madame Zurabishvili and its fundamentalness, as well as the fact that she, unlike President George Margvelashvili, chosen by President George, and refused the presidential palace in Avlabari built by Saakashvili. Since then, the state flag has not even been set over the dome of the former residence in the city center.

However, five years have passed and 71-year-old Salome Zurabishvili turned out to be another disappointment of Dreams.

A violation of the constitution was recognized exactly what Zurabishvili became the president of Georgia - negotiations with the heads of European states on the issue of European integration.

The precedent was created by 80 deputies of the Georgian Dream, who applied to the Constitutional Court. In less than two weeks after submitting the application, how the Constitutional Court allowed the deputies to carry out the impeachment procedure.

Almost no one in Georgia was surprised by such a court decision. “We do not need any pressure. Without pressure, we know what decision should be made, ” - the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Merab Turava, may have been worried when the journalists answered the question of whether it was a pressure. Although it is possible that it was simply sincere: it is believed that all the “judicial clan” that are important to the government “resolves”, which has already become so famous that this year four senior Georgian judges even fell under the sanctions of the US State Department.

Six judges recognized the violator of the Zurabishvili Constitution - this is the minimum permissible number of votes to make an impeachment decision. Three more judges in the collegium voted against - all of them were appointed from the representations of President Zurabishvili.

The Constitutional Court of Georgia is located in Batumi, the chairman of the ruling party Irakli Kobahidze himself came to submit claims to Zurabishvili himself, who loves to emphasize that he was an outstanding constitutionalist, studied in Germany and participated in writing those articles of the constitution that concern the powers of the president, after Georgia became the Parliamentary Republic, and the president’s position was reduced almost to the ceremonial.

Kobahidze at the trial insisted that the president could exercise his authority abroad only with the consent of the government, but Zurabishvili went to Berlin, Paris and Brussels, despite the fact that the government did not allow her. He admitted that the president nevertheless turned to the government, but did not receive “good”. And when after that Salome Zurabishvili still went abroad, she violated the constitution.

Madame President herself in Batumi did not come to the process, her interests were represented by an experienced lawyer, a former member of the Constitutional Court, Professor Maya Kopaleishvili and a former parliament deputy Tamar Chugoshvili, who left the party, like many other pro -Western members of the team.

Representatives of Zurabishvili stated that Kobahidze was engaged in demagogy, simplifying the possibilities of the president, and reminded that Article 49 of the Georgian Constitution gives the president the authority to represent the country abroad, and Article 78 obliges the parliament and the Georgian government to take all measures to integrate the country into the structure of NATO and the EU. In addition, the president did not sign any papers - she only talked with Sholts, Macron and Michel, and these meetings were personal, not official.

“The president is not a prisoner of a government who, without the consent of the government, is prohibited from leaving the country in order to meet with his colleagues to exchange opinions”,

- Maya Kopaleishvili said at the court.

Tamar Chugoshvili also believes that “Salome Zurabishvili should use all diplomatic relations, this is what she does best. Instead, an absurd situation occurs: we are going to remove the president of Georgia from his post for meeting with the presidents of other countries and asked to help with obtaining the status of the country - an EU candidate. This is a conscious creation of obstacles to European integration. According to the Georgian Dream, the president should be a continuation of their party goals and repeat only those messages that the party will establish. ”

As a result, the Constitutional Court in his decision almost word for the word repeated the arguments of the ruling party: “Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili during his working visits abroad on August 31, on September 1 and 6, 2023 exercised its representative powers in the field of external relations without the consent of the Georgian government, thereby violating the provisions of subparagraph“ A ”of the 1st paragraph 52 of the Constitution of Georgia. The court concluded that this is a violation of the 48th article of the Georgian Constitution. ”

The last step towards impeachment

The main intrigue will be resolved this week - two -thirds from the full composition of the deputies, that is, 100 out of 150 parliamentarians, should vote for the president’s displacement in parliament.

However, the “Georgian Dream” can count on a maximum of 88 votes-these are their own deputies and several more of the parties-satellites. Where will the "dream" take another 12 votes? The opposition has been discussing this almost from the day when impeachment was initiated. In two weeks, the entire supply of mutual suspicion was exhausted and seemed to have decided that so many people could not be bribed.

Just in case, most opposition deputies announced that on the voting day they would not be registered at all and even attend the meeting.

The opposition says that the government is trying to sabotage the process of European integration through impeachment, since even the formulation of this issue has already caused a negative reaction in Brussels:

This was directly stated by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrel during a visit to Tbilisi.

If 100 deputies of the parliament do not vote for impeachment, then the decision of the Constitutional Court will not have any legal force and will remain only on paper.

What will be the relationship after that between the president and the ruling party, no one even tries to predict. Salome Zurabishvili spent her last visits to her own funds - representatives of Georgian embassies did not even meet her in Paris and Berlin, between the European capitals she traveled by train, with one suitcase.

But if impeachment by some miracle will still be able to finish, then the presidential early elections must be appointed-within 45 days. These will no longer be universal elections: the president will be elected by a special collegium of electors, consisting of parliamentary deputies and local authorities.

However, if everything goes as the opposition plans, and the impeachment will fail, then Zurabishvili will remain the president for another year - until December 2024.

The head of the ruling party Irakli Kobahidze admits that the "dream" does not have enough votes for impeachment. Speaking at a briefing after a court decision, he tried to compensate for this awkward circumstance with pathos phrases:

“From now on Zurabishvili is only formally considered the president of Georgia. In the last, sixth year of her presidency, it will be completely devoid of political and moral legitimacy and will remain if we use the American terminology, the so -called “lame duck”.

Salome Zurabishvili repeatedly deliberately and grossly violated the Constitution of Georgia, opposing the constitutional system and systems of parliamentary rule. She betrayed the Constitution of Georgia and the oath brought at the Constitution of Georgia ... She is no longer worthy of occupying the high status of the President of Georgia.

If Salome Zurabishvili retained elementary dignity, then after the Constitutional Court recognized the violation, she would immediately resign from the post of president herself ...

No matter how the impeachment procedure ends, we have already achieved the goal - a violation of the constitution did not remain without a reaction, which will have a long -term preventive effect on the correct functioning of the power system. ”

By the way, when in the presidential election in 2018 the leadership of the Georgian Dream decided to support the candidacy of Salome Zurabishvili, Kobahidze vouched for her and called a “fundamental choice”.

The president accepts the call

Experts believe that the three judges opposed are a serious “shortage” of the court clan. Political scientist Giya Khukhashvili called it “defeat of power” and “corrosion in the monolithic system of the court”. “The fact that Turava and Kobahidze would make such a decision, we already knew. The news is that the authorities do not have enough compromising evidence for three of the six judges to force them to do what they want. ”

Khukhashvili believes that Salome Zurabishvili has resources to “manage the political process” if the opposition and civil society helps her, especially since the parliamentary elections will take place in a year.

“If the government wants to issue Zurabishvili as a“ lame duck ”, then it itself should use all its resource and powers to show that the“ Georgian dream ”is a whole farm of“ lame ducks ”, belonging to one person - Bidzine Ivanishvili,” the political scientist said on the broadcast of the Formula television company. According to him, the president must continue his visits to Europe, use his right to pardon in order to release activists who are in prison, take part in the shares, begin to cooperate with the opposition and civil activists.

In the opposition itself, Zurabishvili calls to openly oppose Bidzina Ivanishvili, as well as to have mercy on the third president of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili, who has been in prison for two years and survived two protracted hunger strikes.

Salome Zurabishvili really never accused Ivanishvili himself of anything, and Saakashvili said “no and never” about the pardon,

Although recently this position, according to the sidelines, has significantly softened due to the negative reaction of the West.

On Monday evening, news releases were interrupted due to the broadcast of the president’s appeal: Salome Zurabishvili was the embodiment of confidence and reproach.

“The Constitutional Court issued a conclusion for which he should be ashamed ... In this country there was no institution that protects independence, except for one, is the president,” she said about herself, emphasizing that she feels support from citizens.

“I want to cheer you up and say that I'm not leaving anywhere. I will be where I was, where I am and for what came here, I stayed, stood on the street - for the sake of our European and democratic future, ”Zurabishvili said about her opposition past, apparently hinting at the future.

The President confirmed that during the vote on impeachment, she intends to perform in parliament:

“Time to dream for“ dreams ”has passed. I will not justify their dreams and will not go anywhere. Now let them decide what Salome Zurabishvili was better for them, I am no longer interested in it. I am interested in where I will be useful for the country: as an independent politician or as a president who will continue his mandate. How and what will happen - the near future will. ”

She has no doubt that “the whole society has united on the European Way” and that the “first result”, that is, the status of the country - an EU candidate, will be received at the end of this year, “as if some people from the inside did not interfere with this.” Salome Zurabishvili also called on citizens to “achieve free elections” and “not to lose hope”.

Zurabishvili, Europe and Russia

Salome Zurabishvili was not a popular candidate in 2018, when the Georgian Dream decided to nominate her to the presidency. After the loss in the first round, the candidate from the National Movement Grigolu Vashadze included the entire leadership of the “Georgian Dream”. The photographs of Zurabishvili herself from the posters almost disappeared, but Bidzina Ivanishvili appeared on them - then his anti -rating was not as high as it is now.

Having become the president, Zurabishvili almost never criticized the “dream”, and even more so Ivanishvili himself. Everything changed after in 2022 Georgia did not give the status of a country-a candidate for the EU, and the Georgian government began to quarrel with Western partners because of the war in Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, as well as unwillingness to carry out reforms. Zurabishvili periodically reminds the government of these claims, and “from itself” is also outraged by the appearance of tens of thousands of Russians in the country.

For example, this year on May 26, at the main festival of the country, the Day of Independence, Salome Zurabishvili immediately after congratulations switched to sharp criticism, which caused the exclamations of indignation on the government rostrum:

“Our foreign policy has become incomprehensible ... Daily statements and actions separate us from Europe and lead to isolation. Where did the words "Europe are our civilizational choice" disappeared? "

“It is incomprehensible and insulting when today we think how many millions will bring us a“ gift ”of flights (with Russia). Our dignity was sold for 200 or 300 million? "

“Who thinks that Russia will return the territory to us in exchange for our concessions, our story has not taught anything.”

“The manipulation of the topic of the threat of war (with Russia), the suggestion of fear of their own society cannot be a formula for successful rule.”

“It is not clear why any measures and fair rules have not been adopted regarding those who are massively arriving from Russia, especially in areas as health and education, buying real estate and tax failure.”

In the beginning of March, Zurabishvili was on a visit to the UN, but canceled her events after the Georgian parliament approved the bill on “foreign agents” in the first reading. The president from New York turned to the citizens of the country and supported the participants in the protest against the "Russian Law". She also spoke at CNN and was desperately criticized by the government.

On March 31, during her annual performance in parliament, Zurabishvili directly accused the government of trying to change the foreign policy and distance from strategic partners.

It is not surprising that in the Georgian Dream they say that they have lost confidence in the president who is not shy about criticizing them even from abroad.

In an interview with reporters at the end of September, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili explained why the government refuses Zurabishvili in foreign visits:

“It contradicted the national interests of our country. We do not know what she would say during a trip to some country using our mandate.

We have always been and remain interested in obtaining the status of a candidate for the EU, and any action and statement against this is a sabotage. ”

Experts also do not exclude that the authorities take into account the irritation that Salome Zurabishvili causes in Moscow, and so show that they are trying their best to “take measures” against the obstinate president.

In February 2023, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised the Georgian government and scolded Zurabishvili, who opposed the restoration of air traffic with Russia and criticized the decision of the President of the Russian Federation to cancel visa for Georgian citizens. Лавров говорил про Зурабишвили, что она, «слава богу, не определяет пути развития страны».

Выступления Зурабишвили из США по поводу «русского закона» задели и председателя комитета Совета Федерации РФ по международным делам Григория Карасина. Он написал в своем телеграм-канале, что «Саломе Зурабишвили прошла жесткий инструктаж в Вашингтоне», так как там «требуют, чтобы Грузия встроилась в санкционные ряды против России». Также Карасин называл Зурабишвили «странноватым политиком», который «пытается провоцировать злобную реакцию на жест доброй воли — российское решение о возобновлении авиаперевозок».