The West is fairly transparently supporting French-born – and -raised Zurabishvili and currently imprisoned Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement against head of state Garibashvili.
Civil Georgia
March 15, 2022
Garibashvili Talks Refusal of President’s Europe Visits
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili claimed today the Government had refused President Salome Zurabishvili to make official visits to Europe because amid Russia’s war against Ukraine, “the President, the Commander-in-Chief, should have been and should be in the country.”
“This was our main argument and motivation for the refusal,” the PM told reporters, stressing that this opinion was shared by “every member of the Government.”
He also argued that the Georgian Constitution obliges the President to receive consent for any official visits from the Government, which implements the country’s foreign policy.
“I should reiterate that, as it seems unfortunately the Georgian President has been misled,” the Prime Minister also said, without elaborating further.
“I would like to assume that she fell into this uncertainty,” he added. “I hope that very soon everything will be cleared up and there will no longer be these questions.”
PM Garibashvili made the remarks after the ruling Georgian Dream party announced earlier today that the Government would sue the President in the Constitutional Court over competencies.
The Georgian Dream claimed that the President has overstepped her competencies and pursued foreign policy by side-stepping the Georgian Government.
In the statement, the GD argued the President’s role as the Commander-in-Chief of Georgia was merely “ceremonial.”
====
Agenda.ge
March 15, 2022
PM Garibashvili: Ensuring constitutional order “supreme public interest”
Ensuring constitutional order represents the “supreme public interest,” with individual initiatives in the matter being “simply inadmissible”, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Tuesday in comments on a controversy around President Salome Zourabichvili’s recent visits to Europe.
In his statement, Garibashvili underscored the significance of “ensuring constitutional order” amid challenges faced by “our state and people, together with the entire world”.
The Government head explained such order would mean a functioning of all constitutional bodies and institutions “within the strictly defined powers”.
====
The Messenger
March 15, 2022
Salome Zurabishvili entered the hall of the Parliament, where she gave her annual report, together with the Charge d’Affaires of the Ambassador of Ukraine.
This fact caused the dissatisfaction of the chairman of the Georgian Dream faction, Mamuka Mdinaradze.
Before the president’s speech, he asked for a speech and said, “There has been some embarrassment about the mission representative, with whom I’m sorry, I want to show solidarity and respect. But when we do not see the institute’s respect, it’s bad.”
Later, in his speech, Mdinaradze clarified his previous statement:
“I had a somewhat reprimanding tone about the procedure, saying to the media that careless, the word is the main thing – to carelessly bring a respected Ukrainian representative into the courtroom, carelessly write a letter to the Georgian parliament and I think it is disrespectful to the institute. Sorry, you know my attitude, it should definitely be mentioned.
“This word of ‘negligence’ has been omitted by some members of the media, and it is as if we have complained that you entered the Georgian parliament with a representative of Ukraine. They are doing it now that you are calling for unity,” Mdinaradze said.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, recalled the Ambassador from Georgia on March 1. He cited Georgia’s ‘immoral position’ in preventing Georgian volunteers from traveling to Ukraine and joining sanctions as the reason.
====
Agenda.ge
March 15, 2022
Parliament Defence Committee Deputy Chair: events in Ukraine show need to develop defence
The current events in Ukraine “once again” show Georgia’s need to develop its defence capabilities, Vladimer Chachibaia, the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Security, told MPs on Tuesday.
Telling lawmakers Georgia and the wider Black Sea region were facing “great challenges”, Chachibaia, the former Chief of the Georgian Defence Forces, said developing effective artillery capability and fire control systems were among the key priorities of the 10-year Development Plan for the GDF.
Chachibaia’s comments at the legislative body came on the annual Artillery Day of the Georgian Defence Forces on March 15.
The retired Lieutenant General also highlighted successes of Georgian peacekeeping troops in international missions in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and on the African continent….
Anti-bellum 