Georgia's awmakers elect former footballer, far-right politician as new president
- 16 December, 07:40
Georgia’s ruling Georgia Dream party on Sunday appointed a former footballer and far-right, anti-Western politician as the country’s new president after 17 days of pro-EU protests that have swept through the country.
Mikheil Kavelashvili was elected by a 300-seat electoral college, which replaced direct presidential elections. Of 225 electors present, 224 voted for Kavelashvili, 53, a former footballer who was the only candidate nominated. The opposition had boycotted the election as it considers the parliament illegitimate due to the reported cases of bribery and double voting during the October 26 legislative election.
Georgia’s pro-western President Salome Zurabichvili who was elected by popular vote six years ago, has described Kavelashvili’s appointment as illegitimate as he has been elected by “a parliament that has not received legitimacy”.
Former player of Manchester City, Kavelashvili was elected to Georgia’s parliament in 2016 just ten years after his retirement from the football world. In 2022, Kavelashvili co-founded the People’s Power political movement, which was allied with ruling Georgian Dream party and became known for its anti-Western rhetoric. The politician is one of the authors of the controversial law on “foreign agents” that requires organizations receiving more than twenty percent of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power.” The controversial law that is similar to a Russian law, caused mass protests in Georgia and drew criticism from Tbilisi’s Western allies who have accused the ruling party of derailing the country from EU integration.
Kavelashvili’s appointment as the president came amid mass protests that erupted after the ruling party’s decision last month to suspend EU accession talks until 2028. The former Manchester City striker’s election is believed to further deepen the political turmoil in the South Caucasus country.
