Former Manchester City footballer and far-right politician Mikheil Kavelashvili has been elected president of Georgia.
The 53-year-old, who is pro-Russian and a vocal critic of the European Union, takes office after the Georgian Dream party won a contentious election.
Mr Kavelashvili, leader of People’s Power—a splinter group from the ruling party—has been an MP since 2016. In speeches leading up to the election, he claimed that Western powers are attempting to drag Georgia into a war with Russia.
His position sharply contrasts with outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili, who played a key role in advancing Georgia’s bid for EU candidate status.
Georgia, a former Soviet Union state, has been in political turmoil in recent weeks and Mr Kavelashvili won 224 of the 225 voted of electors (a group made up of MPs and government members) on Saturday.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in light snowfall outside parliament ahead of the presidential vote. Some played football in the street outside and waved red cards at the parliament building, a mocking reference to Mr Kavelashvili.
Mr Kavelashvili played 46 games for Georgia and scored nine goals from 1991 to 2002. His spell at City was an unfruitful three goals in 28 games and largely came at a time that the current Premier League champions were in the second division. He went on to enjoy a more prolific spell in Switzerland, playing for various teams.
Outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party, has positioned herself as a leader of the protest movement and has said she will remain president after her term ends. She considers parliament illegitimate as a result of alleged fraud in the October election.
In a tweet shortly before the vote, Ms Zourabichvili said her successor's election represented "a mockery of democracy".
Opposition parties have said they will continue to regard Ms Zourabichvili as the legitimate president, even after Mr Kavelashvili is inaugurated on December.
At a briefing after the vote, prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze congratulated Mr Kavelashvili, and referred to the outgoing president as an "agent" of unspecified foreign powers.
Georgia had been seen for decades as one of the most pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union’s successor states, but relations with the West have soured this year, with Georgian Dream forcing through laws on foreign agents and LGBT rights that critics say are Russian-inspired and draconian.
Western countries have raised the alarm at Georgia’s apparent foreign policy pivot and authoritarian drift, with the EU threatening sanctions over a crackdown on protests that has seen hundreds arrested.
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Georgian Dream has moved to improve ties with Russia, which backs two breakaway Georgian regions and defeated Georgia in a five-day war in 2008.
Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied outside parliament nightly for more than two weeks. Some have hurled fireworks at police, who have used water cannon and tear gas to break up demonstrations.
The government has repeatedly said the protests represent an attempt to stage a pro-EU revolution and a violent seizure of power.
