Kavelashvili sworn in as Georgia's president amid political tensions

Mikheil Kavelashvili was sworn in on Sunday as Georgia’s sixth president at a ceremony in Tbilisi. For the first time in Georgia's history, the presidential swearing-in ceremony was held behind closed doors in the parliament's plenary chamber.In his speech, Kavelashvili highlighted Georgia’s rich culture and the hardships it has endured over the centuries. His inauguration comes as the Georgian administration has halted talks on the country's EU membership, escalating tensions with the opposition. Thousands of people protested in the capital, Tbilisi, ahead of swearing in of the new President Mikheil Kavelashvili on Sunday. On 14th of this month, Georgian Parliament elected Mikheil Kavelashvili as President of the country.  However, the current head of state, Salome Zourabichvili, refused to step down, describing her election as illegitimate. Zurabishvili -- at loggerheads with the ruling party -- has joined the demonstrators at Tbilisi's Dry Bridge.

Georgian Prez Zourabichvili leaves presidential palace as Kavelashvili takes office

She will be making a not-so-smooth transition to becoming a protester as supporters wait with American flags

I will walk out of here and be with you. I am taking legitimacy with me - she says pic.twitter.com/fRNmajoB88

— RT (@RT_com) December 29, 2024

The four main opposition groups have also rejected Kavelashvili and boycotted parliament. Mass street protests gripped Georgia since November 28, when the ruling Georgian Dream party's increasingly authoritarian government said it will not seek the opening of EU accession talks until 2028.  
Georgian Dream Party, which has been in power for 12 years, won parliamentary elections in October, but the victory was mired by allegations of fraud and there have since been protests. But what really ignited recent protests was the November announcement by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze that he was suspending Georgia’s European Union membership application process until the end of 2028. An overwhelming majority of Georgians back the country’s path to the European Union.   But Georgia refused to join Western sanctions on Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and called the West the global war party. It is as yet unclear how the stand-off will be resolved.