Invested as president of Georgia on Sunday in the midst of a political crisis, ex-footballer Mikheïl Kavelashvili is known for his diatribes against the West and critics of power, whom he unwaveringly supports.
Aged 53, Mr. Kavelashvili was designated president on December 14 by an electoral college controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party.
His inauguration was held, for the first time in the history of Georgia, behind closed doors in Parliament, for fear of protests from the pro-European opposition.
During this ceremony, this former professional athlete turned politician advocated “unity” and “peace”, also emphasizing “love of family and homeland” and the country's Orthodox faith.
“Today, our country is faced with an artificial polarization of society, imposed from outside,” he denounced, promising to “consolidate and unite society.”
This speech contrasts with the speeches often full of obscenities that he once made in front of Parliament, targeting critics of the Georgian Dream or even LGBT+ people.
Before joining this political group, he had been a footballer in Georgian and European clubs, notably in England at Manchester City.
In Georgia, the powers of the president are limited and essentially symbolic but the current occupant of the post, the pro-Western Salomé Zourabichvili, has announced her refusal to give up her mandate, judging the appointment of Mr. Kavelashvili illegal.
– Loyal to power –
Pro-European demonstrators who have been protesting daily for two months accuse the former footballer of being a puppet of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia, founded the Georgian Dream party and has ruled Georgia from behind the scenes since 2012.
According to Mr. Ivanishvili, his foal Mikheïl Kavelashvili is “the incarnation of the Georgian man”.
Wearing a mustache, his hair slicked back and combed back, the latter is known for his vitriolic sentences.
His political positions align with far-right ideologies, notably on national identity, opposition to the recognition of the rights of LGBT+ people and the promotion of the “purity of the traditional values of Georgians” in the face of what he describes as “putrid liberal fascism” imposed by the West.
He attacked LGBT+ people in particular, victims of strong hostility in this country where the influence of Orthodox Christianity remains significant.
Mikheïl Kavelashvili notably accused the West of wanting “as many people as possible to be neutral and tolerant towards the LGBT ideology which supposedly defends the weak but which is in fact opposed to Humanity”.
– “Illegitimate” –
Born in the small town of Bolnisi, in the southwest of the country, in 1971, he began his sporting career in the 1980s, in Georgia and Russia. Playing as a striker, he played for Manchester City during the 1995-1996 season, then mainly in Switzerland.
From 2016, Mikheïl Kavelachvili has been a member of Parliament, where he was re-elected in the last legislative elections. By 2022, he had created an anti-Western faction which officially split from Georgian Dream, while being considered to remain under its thumb.
In his speeches, he accused the West of wanting to push Georgia – which already experienced a short war with Russia in 2008 – into the armed conflict in Ukraine.
His nomination as a presidential candidate had infuriated pro-EU protesters. “I can hardly imagine someone less suitable for this role,” Nika Gobronidze told AFP earlier in December.
According to this 53-year-old historian, billionaire Ivanishvili wants a president under his control: “the Roman emperor Caligula wanted a horse as consul, our oligarch wants his puppet Kavelashvili as president.”
His legitimacy as head of state is also criticized by constitutional law experts.
After taking the oath on Sunday, he summed up his thoughts by advocating “respect for Georgian traditions, values, national identity, sanctity of the family and faith”.
