Starting today and for the next year, Salome Zourabichvili will retain only a formal position as President of Georgia. She will not be the President of Georgia, but one of the United National Movement, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, told journalists after the Parliament failed to impeach the President.

Kobakhidze explained that a majority of parliament members, elected by the people, have officially expressed their stance that Zourabichvili is no longer deserving of the presidency.

“I reiterate my remarks from the plenary session: the impeachment process carries significant consequences. Firstly, it unveiled blatant, repeated, and severe violations of the Constitution by the President, which will have preventative consequences. Secondly, it exposed the alliance between Salome Zourabichvili and the radical opposition. Both are very important.

Today, the majority of parliament members elected by the people formally affirmed their stance that Salome Zourabichvili is no longer deemed worthy of the presidency. Therefore, for the next year, Salome Zourabichvili will bear the title of the President formally only. She will not be the President of Georgia, but the President of the United National Movement,” stated Kobakhidze.

The Georgian Parliament held a vote to impeach President Salome Zourabichvili but failed to collect the necessary votes to impeach her. In the vote, 90 lawmakers registered, with 86 in favour and one against. The parliament needed the support of 100 MPs to pass impeachment.