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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Pjotr Sauer

‘Let’s see who will be leaving’: Georgia’s presidential standoff nears crunch point

President Salome Zourabichvili holds up her hands to talk to a crowd
President Salome Zourabichvili addresses a crowd near the parliament building on 22 December in Tbilisi. Photograph: Jay Kogler/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock

All eyes in Georgia are fixed on the elegant 19th-century Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi, where a defining moment looms. Who will occupy its halls on 29 December?

On Sunday, Georgia’s pro-western president, Salome Zourabichvili, is supposed to hand over the keys to her successor, Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former football player turned far-right politician who is backed by the ruling and increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream (GD) party.

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