Former Premier League footballer elected as new president of Georgia | EUROtoday

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Former Premier League footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili has been elected as the brand new president of Georgia, changing the pro-Western incumbent.

Mr Kavelashvili holds anti-Western and infrequently conspiratorial views, having beforehand claimed that Western intelligence companies are trying to push Georgia into battle with Russia, its ruler for 2 centuries till the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

He was a striker for Manchester City between 1996 and 1997, earlier than taking part in for various golf equipment within the Swiss Super League.

He was first elected to parliament in 2016 for the Georgian Dream get together – which is attempting to deepen ties with Russia because the battle started in Ukraine – and in November 2024 was chosen as its presidential candidate.

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Mr Kavelashvili’s election comes following big protests towards the federal government led by the Georgian Dream get together, after it moved to freeze accession to the EU – a protracted standing objective which is written into the nation’s structure – till 2028.

The transfer prompted anger in Georgia, the place in search of EU membership is overwhelmingly fashionable, in response to opinion polls. But the previous footballer eased his method into the presidency, with the Georgian Dream get together controlling the 300-seat electoral faculty which in 2017 changed direct presidential elections.

Protestors gathered outdoors the Georgian parliament constructing within the capital Tbilisi, many taking part in soccer and mockingly waving pink playing cards in direction of the constructing in reference to Mr Kavelashvili’s soccer profession.

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One protestor, Vezi Kokhodze, stated the vote was “treason” given the need of the Georgian inhabitants to shift near the West. He instructed Reuters information company: “Today’s election represents the clear wish of the system to bring Georgia back to its Soviet roots.”

The college of electors which selects a Georgian president – largely a ceremonial position – is made up of MPs and local government representatives. 224 of the 225 electors present voted for Mr Kavelashvili – the only candidate who was nominated.

Opposition parties have boycotted the Georgian parliament since an election in October which saw Georgian Dream win nearly 54 per cent of the vote but which was condemned as fraudulent by opposition parties.

Tens of thousands of protestors have rallied outside parliament every night for more than two weeks. Fireworks have been thrown at police, who have broken up demonstrations with water cannons and tear gas. The government claims the protests are an attempt to stage a pro-EU revolution to seize power violently.

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Real energy in Georgia is commonly seen to lie with Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire ex prime minister who nominated Mr Kavelashvili for the presidency.

Mr Kavelashvili was concerned in writing a regulation through which organisations which obtain greater than 20 per cent of their funding from abroad must register as brokers of overseas affect – just like a Russian regulation which discredits individuals vital of Putin’s regime.

Outgoing pro-EU president Salome Zourabichvili, a critic of the ruling Georgian Dream get together, described the choice of a brand new president as a “mockery of democracy”. She has positioned herself because the chief of the protest motion and says she is going to stay as president after her time period ends, as she considers the parliament to be illegitimate.

Opposition events say they’ll regard Ms Zourabichvili because the authentic president even after Mr Kavelashvili’s inauguration on December 29.