Georgia: Far-right loyalist elected president amid unrest

Pro-EU protesters took to the streets in Georgia on Saturday as an electoral college dominated by the ruling party chose a new president known for his vehement anti-West views and opposition to LGBTQ rights.

Former soccer star Mikheil Kavelashvili received 224 votes out of a possible 300 from the electoral college.

He was the only candidate in the election, which the opposition boycotted and has said it will not not recognize, insisting that current President Salome Zourabichvili remain the legitimate head of state.

Before 2017, the Georgian head of state — a largely ceremonial position — was elected directly.

But the ruling Georgian Dream party, which is seen as Moscow-leaning and anti-West, amended the constitution in that year to put the vote in the hands of an electoral college made up of members of parliament and regional representatives.

Following the vote, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Kavelashvili's election "will make a significant contribution to strengthening Georgia's statehood and our sovereignty, as well as reducing radicalism and so-called polarization."
"The main mission of the presidential institution is to care for the unity of the nation and society," he added.

Who is Kavelashvili?

Kavelashvili, who easily won Saturday's vote given the majority held in the electoral college by Georgian Dream, was a Premier League striker for Manchester City and for several Swiss Super League clubs as well.

He was elected to the Georgian Parliament on the Georgian Dream ticket in 2016.

In 2022, he cofounded the People's Power political movement, which specialized in anti-Western rhetoric.

Kavelashvili was also a co-initiator of a "foreign agents" law along the lines of similar legislation introduced in Russia in recent years. The law requires organizations that are funded to more than 20% from abroad to register as "pursuing the interest of a foreign power."

The legislation is widely seen as being a means to suppress any organizations critical of the government.

Constitutional crisis looms

President Zourabichvili herself has refused to step down and has called for new parliamentary elections after she and the opposition rejected as fraudulent the results of an October vote that saw the ruling Georgian Dream confirmed in power.

It remains to be seen how the government will react if Zurabishvili, a vigorous pro-Europe advocate, still refuses to leave the position when her successor is inaugurated as planned on December 29.

Zourabichvili has called Saturday's vote a "provocation" and "a parody."

Georgia has seen street protests against the ruling party since the end of October, with public anger growing even stronger when the prime minister postponed EU accession negotiations until the end of 2028.

Opposition groups accuse Georgian Dream of rigging the parliamentary vote, undermining democracy and moving the Black Sea nation closer to Russia, going against the country's constitutionally enshrined aspiration to join the European Union. 

The party recently introduced laws similar to those passed by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

Reports of violence and torture

Police have been accused of brutal crackdowns on protests, where more than 400 demonstrators have been arrested, according to the NGO Social Justice Centre.

Amnesty International said on Friday that demonstrators had been subjected to "brutal dispersal tactics, arbitrary detention and torture."

Police have also raided the offices of opposition parties and arrested some of their leaders.

International condemnation

International criticism of the crackdown by Georgian authorities has grown, with Western leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron vehemently supporting the pro-EU movement in the country.

Macron has told Georgians that their "European dream must not be extinguished."

 "We are by your side in supporting your European and democratic aspirations," he said in a video address.

Earlier this week, Macron called Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, a secretive billionaire who is widely believed to be the main wielder of power in the country. 

Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia, is known for his anti-West rhetoric.

The US government has also imposed fresh sanctions on Georgian officials whom it accuses "undermining democracy." 

tj/zc (AFP, AP, dpa)