For the first time, the president is chosen by a 300-member Electoral College. On Saturday, members of Georgia’s Electoral College gathered in parliament to elect the country’s sixth president. Mikheil Kavelashvili, nominated by the ruling Georgian Dream Party, is the only candidate.
Since gaining independence in 1991, Georgia will elect its president using a new process. A 2017 constitutional amendment created the 300-member Electoral College to select the president. The Electoral College consists of 150 parliament members, 20 members from each of the Supreme Councils of Ajara and Abkhazia, and 109 local government representatives.
Opposition boycotts the vote
Sixty-one opposition lawmakers are boycotting the election. They refuse to accept the results of the parliamentary elections held on 26 October. To win, a candidate must secure 151 votes. Voting started at 9:00 am (0500 GMT) and will run until 2:00 pm (1000 GMT). The results will be announced within an hour of the voting conclusion.
Zurabishvili challenges legitimacy
President Salome Zurabishvili questioned the legitimacy of this election. On Friday, she stated:
“I am not going anywhere, and I will not hand over my office to anyone. I am here and will remain here.”
In response, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili confirmed that the inauguration of the new president would take place on December 29. He added that Zurabishvili, who faces accusations of constitutional violations, must step down on that date. Zurabishvili made history as Georgia’s first female president when she took office in November 2018.
Protests are expected later in the day as opposition groups continue to oppose the election process.
Mikheil Kavelashvili: The only candidate
The Georgian Dream Party has nominated Mikheil Kavelashvili as its sole candidate. Kavelashvili, a former footballer, played for Georgia’s national team from 1992 to 2002. He first entered parliament in 2016, elected as a member of the Georgian Dream Party. In 2020, he was re-elected but left the party in 2022 to co-found the People’s Power Party.
Due to dissatisfaction with the parliamentary election results, opposition parties have not fielded a candidate. Therefore, Kavelashvili is running uncontested.
