Will President Saakashvili be impeached?

Several people within Georgia's NGO sector have started collecting signatures to begin the impeachment process against Mikheil Saakashvili. It is doubtful however that this effort will prove fruitful, this despite the fact that the National Movement and the Georgian Dream Coalition are confronting one another. Instead, it looks as though Saakashvili will maintain his position until the end of his term. Hopefully this will set the first legal precedent when the president's legal term expires. Additionally, this would represent one more demonstration of Georgia’s democratic choice.

Meanwhile the NGO Unity for Public Rights has started collecting signatures and as the leaders of the organization promise, they will collect not 100, 000 but 500, 000 signatures. This will be done because there should be no doubt that the Georgian people do not want such a president, explained the NGO members.

After collecting required number of signatures, the statement will be sent to the leaders of the world community like the presidents of US and France, the PM of the UK, the EU leadership, as well as the Georgian parliament.

Even if the signatures are collected and the process could start, the impeachment process in the Georgian parliament requires special constitutional conditions. First is the violation of constitution by the president himself or similar criminal abuse. Then a long procedure begins involving the Supreme Court or Constitutional Court and finally the parliament. According to the Georgian Constitution, such a procedure requires a constitutional majority which is 2/3 of the MPs. It has become more visible that Georgian Dream leaders are very critical towards the previous Georgian leadership. However, most of them understand that the start of the impeachment process will discredit the country’s image considerably. Some of them think that since the power was changed through the elections, the president should also leave his position in a legal way in due time. MP Levan Berdzeniashivli stated that Saakashvili’s fate should be decided not according to which he deserves, but according to how the country needs it.

MPs and analysts think that at least Georgia should accept the tradition of the president serving their legal terms. So, despite the fact that the public wants to watch the show – Saakashvili being impeached, it is unlikely that this show will be performed.