Georgia's ruling party refuses to call Zurabishvili “president”

President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili / Collage 24 Channel

The Georgian Dream Party has decided to avoid using the term “president” and ignore the status of the head of state, Salome Zurabishvili.

Salome Zurabishvili expressed doubts about the possibility of prosecuting Russian leader Putin and Chinese Xi Jinping, while at the same time the party was outraged by the words of the head of state.

Outrage from the ruling party

The executive secretary of the Georgian Dream, Mamuka Mdinaradze, claims that Zurabishvili “has no legitimacy from the deputies elected by the people, from the majority that elected her.”

Therefore, we will not call her the president, but simply Salome Zurabishvil, an opposition politician,” he said.

The party also expressed its dissatisfaction with Zurabishvili’s interview with the French TV channel LCI. It asked whether she expected Putin and Xi Jinping to ever face trial for their actions: Xi for the Uyghur genocide, Putin for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Do I think this is realistic – no

Zurabishvili generalized her answer, avoiding specific names and not distinguishing Putin and Xi Jinping. She noted that she believes in “a historical moment when everything will be revealed.”

But if you ask me if I think it’s realistic, my answer is no,” Solome said.

Subsequently, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili noted that her statements “mean nothing.”

The Georgian government began to worry that Zurabishvili’s interview could negatively affect strategic cooperation with China. Therefore, Garibashvili personally met with the Chinese Ambassador to Georgia to assure him of friendship and sympathy for the PRC and Xi Jinping.

What is known about the launch of impeachment proceedings against Salome Zurabishvili

• On September 1, it became known that the Georgian Dream party was launching impeachment proceedings against Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili because of her visits to Europe, which were not agreed upon with the government. The opposition sees this as an attempt to prevent the country's integration into the European Union.
• On September 7, Zurabishvili announced that she was not going to lag behind, despite the impeachment initiated by Georgian Dream.
• On September 18, the Constitutional Court of Georgia began considering the constitutional proposal for the impeachment of Zurabishvili.
• On October 3, hearings began in the Constitutional Court of Georgia regarding the impeachment of the president, who did not appear at them.
• The Constitutional Court of Georgia recognized that President Salome Zurabishvili's working tour of Europe was a violation and allowed the start of her impeachment proceedings. Zurabishvili says he won’t go anywhere.