Georgia: Former footballer Mikhail Kavelashvili becomes new president

Accompanied by protests, a new president, ex-footballer Mikhail Kavelashvili, was elected in Georgia. 224 members of an electoral committee voted for the candidate of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Georgian media reported, citing the Central Election Commission. One vote was invalid and there were no opposing candidates. 200 votes were necessary to win the election.

Hundreds of demonstrators protested against the process in front of parliament, including incumbent Salome Zurabishvili. It is the first time that the head of state was chosen not directly, but through an electoral body made up of MPs and regional representatives. The Georgian Dream changed the constitution in 2017 so that such a body now exists. The opposition has already declared that it will not recognize the election.

Their representatives did not accept the mandates won in the controversial parliamentary elections at the end of October. Therefore, fewer than 300 of the intended representatives were present in the electoral committee.

“Nobody voted for anyone. Nothing happened,” Zurabishvili said, according to media reports. She had previously said that she saw herself as the only legitimate president and described the new election as a “parody”.

Since the parliamentary election in October, which was overshadowed by allegations of fraud, people in the South Caucasus republic have been regularly demonstrating against the ruling party. The sometimes violent protest reached a new level more than two weeks ago when Prime Minister Iraqi Kobachidze announced that he would not hold any EU accession negotiations until the end of 2028.