GD Parliament Removes President Zurabishvili’s Protection Detail

The ruling Georgian Dream’s Parliament adopted on December 13 an amendment to the “State State Protection Service” law with 85 votes in favor and none against. This amendment, in effect, removes President Salome Zurabishvili’s protection detail once she leaves office. The electoral college, with only GD representatives sitting, is expected to vote in Mikheil Kavelashvili on December 14 and inaugurate him as president on December 29. President Salome Zurabishvili says the Parliament is illegitimate and vows to stay on until the new parliament is voted in through free and fair elections.

The amendment, which seems styled on purpose to apply to Zurabishvili without naming her, reads that “if the Constitutional Court, in accordance with Article 48 of the Constitution of Georgia, has confirmed in its ruling that [that the President, Prime Minister, or Parliament Speaker] have violated the Constitution or that their actions contain signs of a crime, or that the termination of the powers of the respective official is the result of a crime,” they will be deprived of the personal protection detail for one year after the end of their term of office.

In a case initiated by the GD and considered partisan, the Constitutional Court ruled on October 16, 2023, that President Salome Zurabishvili breached the constitution by making working visits to Europe without the Government’s approval.

Also Read:

• 17/10/2023 – Three Dissenting Judges of Constitutional Court: Our colleagues misinterpreted President’s constitutional mandate