The World Briefly

October 19, 2023

Butting Heads

Georgia

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Georgian President Salome Zurabichvili survived an impeachment vote Wednesday, a motion that came after the country’s constitutional court ruled that she violated the constitution after visiting European Union countries without government consent, Radio Free Europe reported.

The motion was recommended by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which holds 84 seats in the 150-member legislature. But observers said the party did not have the two-thirds majority needed to push through the motion, adding that other parties would not support the vote.

The vote came days after the constitutional court found that Zurabichvili “exercised representative powers and authority in the area of international relations without the Georgian government’s consent.”

But the decision split the nine-panel tribunal, with three judges saying their colleagues misinterpreted the constitutional rights of the president.

The country’s constitution forbids the president from getting involved in the country’s diplomatic relations without the agreement of the government.

Between Aug. 31 and Sep. 6, Zurabichvili traveled to a few European capitals to promote Georgia’s EU candidacy and meet with some of the bloc’s leaders. Georgia applied for EU membership last year, shortly after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine.

Zurabichvili has clashed with the ruling Georgian Dream party, while the latter has sought closer ties with Moscow. The president criticized the impeachment motion as “an attempt to kill Georgia’s European future and democracy.”

The call for Zurabichvili’s impeachment coincides with her growing popularity due to her pro-Western and pro-Ukrainian stance.

This popularity has emerged as a response to some controversial decisions made by the ruling party, including a proposed “foreign agent” law.

Zurabichvili opposed this bill, saying it would align Georgia with the Russian model rather than the European one, leading to public protests and the ruling party’s eventual withdrawal of the proposal.

This story originally appeared in the October 19, 2023 newsletter, Twirl, Dip and Turn.