Ombudsman says President impeachment assessments beyond his competences

Georgia’s new public advocate Levan Ioseliani on Wednesday said he would not assess the impeachment procedures initiated against President Salome Zourabichvili by the ruling Georgian Dream party for “violating the country’s constitution” through her visits in Europe without the Government’s consent earlier this month. 

 

In his press comments Ioseliani refrained from saying whether the process could affect the country’s EU integration ahead of the bloc’s decision later this year on Tbilisi’s candidacy, and claimed evaluating the topic was “beyond the competences” of his office. 

 

He noted dometic actors could comment on the issue following the decision of the country’s Constitutional Court next month on whether the President really violated the country’s main law through her EU trip to “facilitate” the country’s obtaining the bloc’s candidacy, but noted his office would make “no comments” even after the court’s conclusion. 

 

If the court approves violating the constitution, the ruling party will need at least 100 votes in the 150-member Parliament to dismiss the President, which it does not have, amid the claims by the opposition they would boycott the vote. 

 

Ioseliani, nominated by the opposition, was elected to the post earlier this year by the support of the ruling Georgian Dream party, with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the GD members praising his candidacy while slamming his predecessor Nino Lomjaria for “backing” the “radical wing” of the domestic opposition. 

 

EU officials have stated Zourabichvili’s impeachment procedures could add to a tense political environment and create obstacles for the country’s obtaining the bloc’s candidacy in December.