Zourabichbvili’s Annual Speech in Parliament Showed Disagreement Between GD Officials and President
By Malkhaz Matsaberidze
Monday, March 21, 2022
President Salome Zourabichbvili’s annual speech to the parliament on March 14 came under both harsh and constructive criticism. The Georgian Dream-backed president has been in disagreement with the ruling party over a number of issues today, with their dividing line being mainly Ukraine's support and EU integration.
Unlike the Georgian Dream, whose leaders often criticize Ukrainian officials, Salome Zourabichbvili openly expresses her support for Ukraine and condemns Russia's aggression. She arrived at the parliament together with the acting ambassador of Ukraine, which the Georgian Dream considered a violation of the protocol, and provided photos depicting the war. Zourabichbvili called him a friend of President Zelensky and asked him to return the invited ambassador to Georgia.
Salome Zourabichbvili called for serious work on EU integration and suggested that the parliament immediately set up the post of State Minister for EU Integration, which could be selected from the opposition.
This structure, the president said, should coordinate to ensure that membership requirements are met immediately, as is the case with other candidate countries. So she offered everyone to sign a document, which would be the epitome of the unanimity of Georgia's political spectrum on EU membership, and send it to the EU in a single package on behalf of Georgia.
A certain response to this call of the President can be considered the resolution unanimously adopted by the Parliament of Georgia on March 15 on Georgia's integration into the European Union. However, this part of the President's speech did not become the subject of a detailed discussion.
However, the part of the president's speech where he spoke about the sanctions imposed by the government on his international activities, which he called incomprehensible, caused a great stir. As she noted on 26 February, she was refused working visits to Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, and Brussels.
She, however, held these meetings regardless through contacts and turned working meetings into personal ones. Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the Georgian Dream, said that if the president's visits abroad took place without the approval of the government, it turns out that the president had violated the constitution.
Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili, for his part, cited the motive for Salome Zourabichbvili’s refusal to pay official visits to Europe - in the wake of Russia's war against Ukraine, “Georgia's president should have been and should be in the country.” However, it was also noted that the function of the President's Commander-in-Chief is purely ceremonial.
It has been a matter of great debate whether the Georgian Dream would start the impeachment process against the president for violating the constitution. However, some also pointed out that Zourabichbvili, who paid a private visit, did not violate any constitution.
It was also said that even if the Georgian Dream wants to impeach the president, the Georgian Dream does not have the required 100 votes in parliament. We must assume that the threat of impeachment will remain just words and the "Georgian Dream" will not do anything in this direction.
President Zourabichbvili has clearly irritated the Georgian Dream. The media has noticed that the authorities didn’t applaud Zourabichbvili for her speech.
For the opposition, the president's statements about Ukraine and the EU were acceptable, but insufficient for many. For example, Mikheil Saakashvili publicly offered Zourabichbvili the title of Hero of Georgia for President Zelensky.
Zourabichbvili was once again asked to pardon Saakashvili, to which he again categorically refused. Her comments on how “Georgia started the war” in 2008 were remembered by her avid critics once again.
According to Labor leader Shalva Natelashvili, they were talking about “female Ivanishvili”, while Giga Bokeria considered her speech as “coming from another planet.” Mikheil Saakashvili called on Zourabichbvili to pay a visit to Ukraine.
The President's critical statements towards the government and the opposition, as well as the President's criticism from the current government and the opposition, raised a significant question — in which political camp is the President today?
Her distancing from the Georgian Dream has already increased significantly and it is difficult to imagine getting closer again. President Zourabichbvili is unacceptable to the United National Movement and a number of opposition parties. However, to the part of the opposition spectrum that's trying to form a “third political force”, Zourabichbvili may be a subject of attention if she decided to stay in politics after 2024 when her term ends. For example, the speech of Salome Zourabichvili, was completely acceptable to the former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, who is the leader of one of the opposition parties today.
