Former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili becomes Georgia’s President

Mikheil Kavelashvili has been elected as the next president of Georgia, amid mounting anger over the government’s halt to the European Union accession process until 2028. Mikheil Kavelashvili is a former footballer and MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party. As the only candidate for the job, Kavelashvili was chosen in parliament by a direct ballot of a 300-member electoral college made up of MPs and representatives of local government. 224 out of 225 members of Georgia’s electoral college voted for him. The election process took place under constitutional changes that ended the direct election of the president and took effect this year.
The ruling Georgian Dream party’s move to freeze the EU accession process until 2028, abruptly halting a long-standing national goal that is written into the country’s constitution, has provoked widespread anger in Georgia, where opinion polls show that seeking EU membership is overwhelmingly popular.Kavelashvili, a former professional soccer player, has strongly anti-Western, often conspiratorial views. In public speeches this year, he has repeatedly alleged that Western intelligence agencies are seeking to drive Georgia into war with Russia.Kavelashvili was nominated for the mostly ceremonial presidency last month by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire ex-prime minister who is widely seen as the country’s paramount leader. Mikheil Kavelashvili will be sworn in on the 29th of this month.
Meanwhile, the four main opposition groups boycotted parliament, insisting that the elections held in October this year were rigged.  The outgoing president, Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-Western figure who has joined the opposition protesters, said the presidential vote makes a mockery of democracy.Salome Zourabichvili has positioned herself as a leader of the protest movement and has said she will remain president after her term ends. She considers parliament illegitimate as a result of alleged fraud in the October election.