Georgia’s governing party has anointed a former footballer turned far-right politician as the country’s new president amid ongoing turmoil following disputed elections in October.
Mikheil Kavelashvili, nominated by the Georgian Dream party, was the only candidate standing in Saturday’s vote which was put to a 300-seat electoral college rather than the people as a result of constitutional changes introduced by the party seven years ago.
Reporting from Tbilisi, Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko explained that the 53-year-old faced no competition “because the opposition believes this government is illegitimate, so they’re not taking part in any processes that would legitimise the government.”
The opposition has boycotted parliament amid nationwide protests over the outcome of legislative elections on October 26, during which observers reported instances of bribery and double voting.
President Salome Zurabichvili, who was elected by popular vote six years ago and has declared the current legislature “unconstitutional”, told Al Jazeera that the country needed a “legitimate president” voted by the people, rather than “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.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in light snowfall outside parliament ahead of the presidential vote. Some played soccer in the street outside and waved red cards at the parliament building, a mocking reference to Kavelashvili’s former sporting career.
Georgians have held nightly rallies since the government declared it would freeze European Union accession talks until 2028. Police have repeatedly used tear gas and water cannon against the people in a violent crackdown that has seen more than 400 arrests.
A striker for Manchester City in the mid-1990s who entered politics in 2016, Kavelashvili and two other Georgian Dream parliamentarians set up a splinter group called People’s Power in 2022. People’s Power became known for its anti-Western position.
Tilted towards Moscow
In 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which led to Moscow recognising two breakaway regions – South Ossetia and Abkhazia – as independent and increasing Russian military presence there.
Critics have accused Georgian Dream – established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia – of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted towards Moscow.
The party recently pushed through “foreign agent” laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
French President Emmanuel Macron told Georgians: “We are by your side in supporting your European and democratic aspirations,” in a video address.
Earlier this week, Macron called Ivanishvili rather than Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a gesture interpreted as a sign of the West’s hesitancy to recognise the legitimacy of Georgian Dream’s new government.
Washington has also imposed new sanctions on Georgian officials, barring visas for about 20 people accused of “undermining democracy in Georgia”, including ministers and parliamentarians.
