Georgia elects new president: ex-footballer with anti-Western views

Kavelashvili was the only candidate in the election.

Presidential elections were held in Georgia, in which the candidate from the pro-government Georgian Dream party, Mikhail Kavelashvili, won ; he was the only candidate in the elections.

As reported by “Echo of the Caucasus”, for the first time in the elections in Georgia, the president was not elected by citizens, but by a special board, in which the “Georgian Dream” had an absolute majority.

Thus, it is not surprising that Kavelashvili received 224 votes out of 225 members of the electoral college present. The opposition did not participate in the process. One ballot was spoiled (Ada Marshaniya, a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Abkhaz Autonomous Republic, did not vote for Kavelashvili).

Mikhail Kavelashvili – what is known about him

Kavelashvili is 53 years old, he has no higher education. He is a football veteran, he began his sports career in Tbilisi “Lokomotiv”, then moved to “Dynamo”, with which he became a six-time champion of Georgia. In 1995 he moved to Vladikavkaz club “Spartak-Alania”, and in 1996 – to “Manchester City”.

Kavelashvili was a member of the 9th and 10th convocations of the parliament, one of the leaders of the “People’s Power”, which formally broke away from the ruling party. He became a deputy following the results of the parliamentary elections on October 26, then renounced his mandate.

He also accused the opposition of operating under the control of the United States, which wants to provoke a “revolution and Ukrainization” of Georgia.

“Georgian Dream” announced that the inauguration of the new president will take place on December 29 of this year. At the same time, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili and the opposition announced that they would not recognize the legitimacy of the procedure.

Also, since the morning of December 14, a protest has been ongoing outside the parliament .

As UNIAN reported, the Georgian parliament earlier expedited amendments to the legislation restricting participation in protests . In addition, the parliament stripped President Salome Zurabishvili of her right to state security after her term ends on December 16.

(C)UNIAN 2024