The electoral college elected Mikheil Kavelashvili as president of Georgia in the first round on Saturday. A total of 224 MPs voted in his favour. The 53-year-old former Alania footballer, nominated by the ruling Georgian Dream party, was the only contender for the presidency in an election that neither the opposition nor incumbent President Salome Zourabichvili now recognises.
The ruling party plans to inaugurate the new president on December 29. Kavelashvili has already been congratulated by the leaders of Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Serbia and a number of other countries.
For the first time in the history of Georgia, not citizens but the electoral college voted for a candidate for the post of head of state. The electoral college consisted of 300 people, 211 of whom were members of the Georgian Dream. As a result, Georgian Dream presidential candidate Mikheil Kavelashvili won the necessary 200 votes for the presidential election.
On December 4, Zourabichvili spoke about the elections held in the country, saying that no one elected anyone. She also expressed gratitude to all those present outside the Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi and noted that she would “defend the citizens and the future of the country to the end.”
Meanwhile, protests continue in Georgia over the suspension of European integration talks and the opposition’s disagreement with the results of the parliamentary elections. Protesters attempted to set fire to the Georgian parliament building and damaged dozens of offices. Police fired tear gas.
On Saturday night, Zourabichvili marched to the protesters provoking the people to continue the protests.
By preventing a peaceful transfer of power to the new president, Zourabichvili has effectively usurped power, just like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who remained in the presidency after the end of his term, violating all sorts of democratic norms, his country’s constitution and election law.
President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for Zourabichvili because she has French citizenship. Also the protests against the government were attended earlier by EU representatives, thus it can be seen that the legitimacy of the government is given through EU endorsement and not by a vote of law in a single country.
