Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze says that in June-July of the last year and this year President Salome Zourabichvilli has refused to sign the appointment of five ambassadors offered by the government and the recalling of one ambassador.

However, Zourabichvili says that she approved the appointment of all 12 diplomats proposed by the government in the reported period.

Controversies between the government, the ruling party and the president erupted after Zourabichvili’s annual speech in parliament earlier this month, where she said that the government did not allow her to visit the EU shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, noting that she used ‘personal contacts’ and paid the visit anyway.

Responding to this, the ruling party accused the president of violating the norms of the country’s constitution and appealed to the Constitutional Court.

The ruling party also said that the president had refused to approve several ambassadors.

Kobakhidze says that they have evidence over the ambassadors, noting that the ruling party did not wish to speak openly on the ‘violations by the president,’ however, they were forced to do so as Zourabichvili herself raised one of issues (the issue of foreign visits) during her speech.

The opposition says that the ruling party and the government ``are punishing the president for her open and clear support for Ukraine.”