Mikhail Kavelashvilifrom the government party Georgian Dreamwas chosen this Saturday as new president of Georgia during a vote held in Parliament, which was boycotted by the opposition. With an indirect voting system, the former soccer player received the support of 224 of the 225 voters present, and replaces the opponent (closer to the EU) in office. Salome Zurabishvilithat He refuses to leave his post.
Kavelashvili, 53 years old and the only candidate on the ballot, won a clear victory. Although constitutional changes in Georgia have made the president’s job largely ceremonial, this means a strengthening of the grip of the Georgian Dream, in what the opposition has called a blow to the country’s aspirations to join the EU and a victory for Russia.
The new president, a former professional soccer player, has strongly anti-Western and often conspiratorial opinions. In public speeches this year, he repeatedly stated that Western intelligence agencies They are trying to draw Georgia into a war with Russiawho ruled the country for 200 years, until 1991.
From football to politics
In what can be defined as an unlikely path to the presidency, Kavelashvili came from the youth ranks of Dinamo Tblisi as a great prospect in 1989. He then built a successful career as a striker, becoming a regular player for his local team before moving to the Russian club Spartak Vladikavkaz in 1995.
Then He joined the English team Manchester City for two seasonsbefore playing for several different Swiss Super League teams and retiring in 2006. During his playing career, he amassed 46 appearances for the Georgia national team and scored nine goals.
Barely ten years after retiring from the world of football, he was elected member of the Georgian parliament in 2016 by the Georgian Dream party. In 2022, he co-founded the political movement People Poweran ally of said political formation, and known for its strong anti-Western rhetoric.
Strong demonstrations against the appointment
Against this backdrop, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of Parliament before the presidential vote. Some played soccer in the street and waved red cards in front of the Parliament building, in a mocking reference to Kavelashvili’s sports career.
Protester Vezi Kokhodze called the vote a “betrayal” against what he said was Georgians’ desire to integrate with the West: “Today’s elections represent the system’s clear desire to return Georgia to its Soviet roots,” he said.
Of the 225 voters present, 224 voted for Kavelashvili, who was the only nominated candidate. All opposition parties have been boycotting Parliament since the October elections in which the official results gave Georgian Dream almost 54% of the votes, but the opposition claims they were fraudulent.
Kavelashvili was also nominated for the presidency, a largely ceremonial position, last month by Bidzina Ivanishvilia billionaire former prime minister who is widely seen as the country’s supreme leader and who is seeking to deepen ties with Russiawhich polls show many Georgians disapprove of.
Furthermore, the former soccer player was one of the authors of a controversial law which requires organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government.
Source: Ambito
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