Courtesy: Google
Georgia's ruling party has appointed former Manchester City footballer turned far-right politician Mikheil Kavelashvili, as the country's new president, despite continued unrest following disputed elections in October. Mikheil Kavelashvili, nominated by the Georgian Dream party, was the only candidate competing in Saturday's vote, which was decided by a 300-seat electoral college rather than the public due to constitutional modifications enacted by the party seven years earlier. The 53-year-old former footballer appointment came with 17 days of pro-EU protests.
On Saturday, he received support from 224 out of the 225 members of Georgia's electoral college. However, the four main opposition factions rejected Kavelashvili and boycotted parliament, claiming that the October elections were rigged. Large throngs of demonstrators gathered outside parliament beginning early Saturday morning in preparation for the vote, despite the frigid conditions.
Country's turmoil further deepens post Mikheil Kavelashvili's appointment
President Salome Zurabichvili, who six years ago was elected by popular vote, called the current legislature "unconstitutional, and further stated that the country required a "legitimate president" elected by the people, not "a parliament that has not received legitimacy."
“The sense in the population is that we are at a real turning point. Either this struggle succeeds … to resist this or we will enter into a regime that will be more or less the Russian regime of [Vladimir] Putin,” she said.
Meanwhile, angry protesters named Kavelashvili as a "puppet" of Georgian Dream founder and millionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. He has called the freshly elected president as "the embodiment of a Georgian man".
Georgia is considered a parliamentary democracy, with the president as the head of state and the prime minister as the head of parliament. Protests against Georgian Dream began immediately following the October elections, but erupted on November 28 when the administration stated that EU accession negotiations would be postponed until 2028.
Background of Mikheil Kavelashvili
Born 1971 in the Georgian village of Bolnisi, Kavelashvili began his professional football career in the 1980s. He began by playing for clubs in Georgia and Russia before becoming a striker for his national team.
In 2015, he was disqualified from running for president of the Georgian Football Federation as he lacked the necessary education. Since 2016, he has been an MP for the Georgian Dream and in October 2024 eletections, he got elected to the legislature on the party's list. The opposition organisations claimed the polls were manipulated and refused to acknowledge them.
