On Saturday, Georgia's lawmakers appointed a former soccer star turned far-right politician as president, intensifying the country's political crisis after weeks of protests and a controversial parliamentary election. Mikheil Kavelashvili, 53, a former Manchester City footballer, was the only candidate for the position and became the first president selected by an electoral college, a system that replaced direct presidential elections seven years ago.
Opposition parties, which boycotted the vote, claim that the October parliamentary elections were tainted by allegations of vote-buying, intimidation, and violence. Kavelashvili, however, was supported by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has dominated Parliament for over a decade and shifted the country’s orientation away from the European Union, closer to Russia and China.
The election results set the stage for a confrontation between Kavelashvili, who will take office in 15 days, and the outgoing president, Salome Zourabichvili, who has aligned herself with the opposition and pledged to remain in office until new elections are held. In a post on X, she denounced the outcome as a "mockery of democracy, " likening it to the Soviet-era selection of Georgia’s leaders.
It remains uncertain what actions she could take to stop Mr. Kavelashvili from assuming office. On November 30, she asserted that "there will be no inauguration and my mandate continues." However, on December 3, Georgia’s constitutional court dismissed a challenge to the elections presented by Ms. Zourabichvili and opposition groups.
Ms. Zourabichvili, elected through Georgia's last popular presidential vote, is pro-Western, while Mr. Kavelashvili holds staunchly anti-Western views. This year, he repeatedly claimed that Western intelligence agencies were conspiring to drag Georgia into conflict with Moscow, which controlled the country as part of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union until 1991.
Russia, which fought a brief war with Georgia in 2008, continues to seek influence over the strategically important Black Sea nation.
Georgia has been in a state of political turmoil since May, when lawmakers from the Georgian Dream party passed a controversial "foreign influence" law co-authored by Mr. Kavelashvili.
The political crisis in Georgia worsened after the October elections, which sparked weeks of street protests. Last month, the prime minister—who holds more power than the president and is a member of the Georgian Dream party—announced that Georgia would halt its efforts to pursue European Union membership, triggering another wave of protests.
On Friday, amid ongoing protests and clashes with police, Parliament passed a law banning face coverings and fireworks at public demonstrations.
Ahead of the vote for Mr. Kavelashvili, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Parliament. Some kicked soccer balls, while others held up their diplomas, mocking the former soccer star’s lack of a university degree.
Kavelashvili joined Georgian Dream in 2016 but left in 2022 to co-found the anti-Western People’s Power party. He was nominated for president by Georgian Dream’s honorary chairman, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose business ties to Russia are often cited by protesters as influencing the party’s pro-Russian stance.