TBILISI, Ga. (AP) – Former soccer player Mikhail Kavelashvili on Saturday as the ruling party tightens its grip on what the opposition calls a blow to the country's EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. He became president of Georgia.
Kavelashvili, 53, is the only candidate on the ballot, given that the Georgian Dream party dominated the 300-seat electoral college, which replaced direct presidential elections in 2017. It easily won votes. The party is made up of parliamentarians and city council members. and local councils.
Georgian Dream retained a majority in the South Caucasus country's parliament in an October 26 election, which the opposition claimed was rigged with Russian aid. Georgia's outgoing president and the main pro-Western political parties have since boycotted Congress and called for a new vote.
Georgian Dream has vowed to continue pushing towards EU membership, but also wants to “reset” relations with Russia.
In 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which led to Moscow recognizing two breakaway regions as independent and increasing the Russian military presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Critics have accused Georgia Dream, founded by shadowy Russian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, of becoming increasingly authoritarian and leaning toward Moscow, an accusation the ruling party has rejected. is denied. The party recently passed legislation similar to those used by the Kremlin to suppress free speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
Pro-Western Salome Zurabichvili has been president since 2018 and vowed on Monday to remain in office after her six-year term ends, calling herself the sole legitimate leader until new elections are held. It states that.
Georgian Dream's decision last month to cancel talks on its country's accession to the European Union further angered opponents and sparked protests.
Zurabichvili, 72, was born in France to parents with Georgian roots and had a successful career in France's foreign ministry before President Mikheil Saakashvili appointed her as Georgia's top diplomat in 2004.
Constitutional changes made the president's job largely ceremonial until Zurabichvili was elected by popular vote in 2018 with the support of Georgian Dream. She harshly criticized the ruling party and accused it of pro-Russian policies, and Georgia Dream unsuccessfully tried to impeach her.
“I remain your president. There is no legitimate Congress, so there is no legitimate election or inauguration,” she declared on the social network X. “My mission continues.”
Zurabichvili told The Associated Press that he denied government claims that rebels were inciting violence.
“We are not calling for a revolution,” Zurabichvili said. “We want new elections, but on conditions where the will of the people is not once again misrepresented or stolen.”
“Georgia has always resisted Russian influence and will not accept its votes or its destiny to be stolen,” she said.
Zurabichvili called Saturday's vote a “provocation” and “parody”, and the leader of one of Georgia's main opposition parties said it was unconstitutional.
Giorgi Vashadze of the United National Movement Union said Zurabichvili was “the only legitimate source of power”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that Kavelashvili's election “will make a significant contribution to strengthening Georgia's national rights and sovereignty, reducing radicalism and so-called polarization.”
“The main mission of the presidential body is to take care of the unity of the state and society,” said Kobakhidze, a former university professor and later chairman of Georgian Dream.
Georgian Dream nominated Kavelashvili, but he was ridiculed by Georgia's opposition parties for not having a higher education. Some demonstrators brought university diplomas and others kicked soccer balls outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Saturday morning.
Kavelashvili played as a striker for Manchester City in the Premier League and several clubs in the Swiss Super League. He was elected to parliament on a Georgian Dream ticket in 2016 and in 2022 co-founded People's Power, a political movement affiliated with Georgian Dream and known for its strong anti-Western rhetoric. did.
Kavelashvili is one of the authors of a controversial law that requires organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “profit-seeking foreign powers”, a law that has been criticized by critics of the government. Similar to Russian laws that are used to discredit organizations.
The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023, subject to it meeting the bloc's recommendations, but put its membership on hold in June following the approval of a “foreign influence” law and provided financial support. was reduced.
After the government announced the suspension of EU accession negotiations on November 28, thousands of demonstrators gathered at parliament every night.
Riot police use water cannons and tear gas almost daily to disperse and assault large numbers of demonstrators, with some throwing fireworks at police and barricading the capital's central boulevards. There were too.
Hundreds of people were detained and more than 100 were treated for injuries.
Several journalists were beaten by police, and media personnel accused authorities of using thugs to prevent people from participating in anti-government rallies, a charge denied by Georgian Dream.
The crackdown has drawn strong condemnation from US and EU officials.
“(Kabelashvili) was not elected by us. He is controlled by a puppet government, Bidzina Ivanishvili, Putin,” said protester Sandro Samkaradze. Another demonstrator waved a placard that read: “We are the children of Europe.”
Demonstrators vowed to continue their rally. “If they (the government) want to go to Russia, they can go to Russia, because we are not going anywhere. We will stay here,” said protester Kato Karatodzishvili.
