President wished to attribute EU integration progress to herself, but failed – ruling party head

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday claimed President Salome Zourabichvili wished to attribute the country’s success on its European integration path to herself, but impeachment procedures initiated against her by the ruling party last month for the recent, unauthorized EU trip had “thwarted her plans”. 

 

He claimed Zourabichvili had “political intentions” and she could appear as a candidate of an unidentified party in the forthcoming, 2024 Parliamentary elections, claiming the presence of parties with “only two-three percent rating” was “beneficial” for the ruling power to garner victory. 

 

Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili also spoke about Zourabichvili’s alleged political plans  and claimed “It seems that Mrs. Salome is very sad, because her term of the Presidency is expiring [next year] and she wants to stay in politics, her affiliation, direct coordination and concerted actions with the opposition only confirm this”. 

 

The Constitutional Court on September 16 backed the President’s impeachment, but the ruling party was unable to collect a mandatory 100 votes to dismiss her.