The Daily Beat: 18 October
The Parliament failed to impeach President Salome Zurabishvili with 86 votes in favor and one against. 90 MPs registered to vote, while 100 votes were needed to impeach the President. A chilly welcome of the President and insulting debates preceded the voting. The ruling Georgian Dream lawmakers claimed that from now on, Salome Zurabishvili is unfit for office and only formally holds the position of President.
Most opposition representatives decried the ruling party’s attempt to impeach the president, claiming political victory over the Georgian Dream. Opposition parties believe that despite the state capture by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the opposition still stands and keeps fighting for the country’s European future. Civil.ge has compiled the politicians’ reactions to the failed attempt to impeach the President.
MEPs also reacted to the impeachment procedure, issuing a joint statement supporting President Salome Zurabishvili. In a joint statement, MEPs openly accused the Georgian government and the ruling party of undermining the country’s EU membership aspirations. MEPs described the government’s behavior and the ruling party’s impeachment initiative as unconstitutional, calling on Georgian MPs not to support the impeachment of the President. Anna Fotiga, Rasa Juknevičienė, Andrius Kubilius, and Miriam Lexmann signed a joint statement.
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) accelerated the sale of Foreign Exchange (FX) reserves following the turmoil in the financial regulator. NBG intervened five times in less than a month, selling almost USD 150 million. NBG President Natia Turnava explained the USD sales as a way of neutralizing one-off, short-term factors, citing “panic-inducing political appeals to the population, telling them that the [Georgian] financial system, the National Bank, seems to have collapsed.”
Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze believes that the practice of same-sex marriages is a demographic threat for a country like Georgia. “Our demographic outlook does not afford us the luxury of having a liberal attitude toward non-traditional marriage. Otherwise, in general, I am a liberal person myself and have liberal views towards many issues,” said Minister Burchuladze at the parliament, responding to the MPs’ questions within the “Minister’s Hour.”
The Public Defender applied for the OSCE/ODIHR’s expertise, requesting a legal opinion on the controversial amendments to the Georgian “Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations” (publicly known as “tents law.”) In the letter addressed to the OSCE/ODIHR, the Public Defender pointed out that the draft law constitutes an intensive interference with the freedom of expression/assembly, limiting the expression of opinion through temporary constructions like tents. Human rights watchdogs say the “tents law” will provide the police with more powers to curtail the freedom of assembly. Recently, the President vetoed the “tents law.”
State Security Service reported the Russian occupation forces’ illegal detention of two Georgian citizens near the Russia-occupied Tskhinvali region. According to the Security Service, international partners and the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions were informed of the incident and the EUMM “hotline” mechanism was activated.
