Georgia’s crisis deepens as football player Kavelashvili is elected president

The former Manchester City footballer is expected to be elected as the president of Georgia on Saturday, after 16 days of pro-EU protests that have hit the country’s towns and cities.

Mikheil Kavelashvili, 53, is a former Member of Parliament in Georgia’s growing ruling party. On Saturday, he is expected to be elected by the electoral college managed by the ruling party.

His appointment comes after a highly contested process in Georgia’s controversial parliament – four opposition parties dismissed him, and refused to participate in parliamentary activities. They insist that the October election was rigged.

Georgia’s pro-Western outgoing president, Salome Zourabichvili, denounced Kavelashvili’s election as a scandal, insisting that he is in charge of Georgia’s only legitimate institution left.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused the president of trying to harm Georgia’s interests, stressing that when his term ends on December 29, he will have to retire.

“We have very strong state institutions, so we have no difficulty in fully controlling the situation,” he was quoted as saying on Friday.

His teammate Nino Tsilosani told reporters that Zourabichvili is no longer the president in the eyes of the public.

Protests against the Georgian Dream began immediately after the October elections but came to life on 28 November when the government announced it would suspend EU accession talks until 2028.

The majority of Georgians back the country’s path to the European Union and are part of the constitution.

Every night, the main street outside the parliament is filled with protesters wearing EU flags, demanding new elections.

Saturday’s vote in parliament is expected to last several hours and fuel anti-government protests. It will involve a direct vote of a 300-member electoral college made up of MPs and local officials loyal to the Georgian Dream from across the country.

Ahead of the vote, the capital Tbilisi was disrupted on Friday by emerging protests involving IT professionals, public sector workers, creative industry professionals, actors and lawyers.

“We are here to build a legitimate state forever, to respect the provisions of the constitution and human rights,” said lawyer Davit Kikaleishvili, 47.

Kavelashvili is the founder of the People’s Power party, known for being the main voice of anti-Western propaganda in Georgia.

He accused the opposition of acting as a “fifth column” directed abroad, and described President Zourabichvili as “the main agent”.

Kavelashvili entered politics after he was rejected from seeking the leadership of the Georgian football association because he did not have a degree.

Although his party ran together with Georgian Dream in the October elections, it has now decided to work in parliament as a “healthy opposition”, to fill the place of “the so-called radical opposition supported by foreign forces”.

Georgian Dream, founded by billionaire businessman and former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, is accused of dragging the country into Russia’s sphere of influence.

The EU and the US have criticized the government for rolling back democracy and more than 460 people have been arrested across Georgia in the past two weeks, according to Transparency International.

More than 300 have been ill-treated or tortured, the organization said, including dozens of people from the Georgian media. Last weekend, criminals were filmed attacking a TV reporter and cameraman.

I The EU has condemned it The “brutal, illegal power of the police” and the foreign minister must consider measures against the government when they meet on Monday.

I The US state department has already imposed visa restrictions to Georgian officials, including government ministers and the police.

The protesters called on the international community to impose sanctions on government officials and Bidzina Ivanishvili, the most powerful man in Georgia.

Pro-government groups also carried out a campaign of harassment against civil society activists, beating them outside their homes, and arresting them arbitrarily.

“There is organized torture, inhuman treatment and humiliation of civilians,” said former human rights defender Nino Lomjaria.

The theater workers who participated in the protests on Friday chanted: “Police are everywhere, justice is nowhere.”

At one point, two men climbed into a construction machine while protesters marched through the tunnel. The pair raised the Georgia flag as the crowds cheered below.