Former Football Player Mijaíl Kavelashvili has been elected as the president of Georgia in a vote that was boycotted by the opposition.
The pro-government Mijaíl Kavelashvili was elected president of Georgia this Saturday during a vote held in Parliament, which was boycotted by the opposition, according to the Central Election Commission of the Caucasian republic.
Kavelashvili, who received the support of 224 out of 300 participating national and municipal deputies, replaces the opposition leader Salomé Zurabishvili, who refuses to step down as she does not recognize the legitimacy of the legislature resulting from the October parliamentary elections.
Thus, Kavelashvili, the only candidate in contention, becomes the sixth president in the country’s history since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. To be elected, Kavelashvili needed 200 votes.
From footballer to president
Presented by the ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), Kavelashvili served as a pro-government deputy since 2016 after a football career that included playing for Manchester City.
Born in 1971, he is the founder of the People's Force movement, which promoted the approval of laws against foreign influence and sexual minorities. These laws were condemned by the opposition and the West for their resemblance to the draconian rules enacted by Russia to suppress the opposition and LGBTQ+ people.
Authorities changed the presidential election mechanism, which for the first time was not the result of universal suffrage but a collegial vote by 150 deputies and 150 municipal delegates. In addition to the deputies, 89 of whom are from GD, 21 deputies from the Autonomous Parliament of Adjara and 20 from the Supreme Council of Abkhazia in exile, as well as 109 municipal delegates, were eligible to participate.
The government had a strong advantage, as it dominates both the national Parliament and local assemblies.
Protests continue in the country
The opposition, which has been protesting daily in Tbilisi since November 28, when the government froze negotiations for joining the European Union, gathers every morning in front of the Parliament building.
"Slaves" and "Russians" are some of the slogans chanted by activists, who consider it an "insult" that the new head of state lacks a higher education degree. To prevent incidents, the police have closed the streets around the Parliament building and deployed trucks with water cannons.
"An illegitimate Parliament cannot elect a new president."
Zurabishvili, president since 2018, reiterated last night in a press conference that she will not leave the presidency, called the vote a "unconstitutional parody," and urged people to continue protesting.
According to the opposition leader, who considers the Georgian Dream's electoral victory in the October legislative elections fraudulent, there is currently no legitimate Parliament in the country, and "an illegitimate Parliament cannot elect a new president."
The Georgian Prime Minister calls on Zurabishvili to step down
Georgia's Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has called on the outgoing president to leave office. "In just two weeks, the inauguration of the new president will take place. Zurabishvili will have to step down," Kobakhidze said in a press conference.
The pro-government leader expressed confidence that the election of Mijaíl Kavelashvili would strengthen Georgia's sovereignty and help reduce radicalism and polarization in society.
"For more than two years, Georgia has not had a patriotic and psychologically stable president," he said, referring to Zurabishvili, who was nominated by the ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), in 2018 but switched to the opposition in recent years.
Additionally, Kobakhidze ruled out a possible popular revolution similar to Ukraine's Maidan, claiming that the authorities have managed to neutralize the most radical opposition activists. He also reminded that 1.2 million people voted for GD in the October parliamentary elections. "Four parties and the wealthiest NGOs can't even gather 2,000 people. That is their real situation, which is very good for our country. In Georgia, the Maidan has failed and will never prosper," he said.
