Georgia: Mikhail Kavelashvili, a former footballer propelled to the presidency of a country in the midst of crisis

Forty-six caps, nine goals for the national team, crowned champion three times Georgia with Dinamo Tbilisi… Mikhail Kavelachvili, 53, is considered in his country as one of the most talented strikers of his generation. Having played for Manchester City, he had a career with Swiss clubs – from Grasshopper Zurich to FC Basel – before retiring his boots in 2007. Converted into an agent, to help his young compatriots go play abroad, he ran for office in 2015 the presidency of the Georgian Football Federation. But, due to a lack of sufficient qualifications (he did not have higher education), he was excluded from this position.

It was then that he switched to politics: in 2016, he became a deputy for The Georgian Dream, a national-populist party founded by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanichviliwho made his fortune in Russia and became in ten years the country's true strong man.

If he doesn't have a priori not the CV to be president, he is a party faithful and has the physique for the job. “ The Georgian Dream uses sport a lot in its propaganda », Notes Thorniké Gordadzé, former Minister of European Integration between 2010-2012, and researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute and within the Georgian think tank Gnomon Wise. “ Among the deputies of the Georgian Dream, there are weightlifters, rugby players, basketball players, several footballers, wrestlers. It is a populist party which capitalizes a lot on the fame of Georgian sportsmen. Kavelashvili is part of this strategy. »

Footballer turned far-right MP

As a deputy, Mikhail Kavelashvili notably defended the so-called “foreign agents” law, modeled on Russia, according to which NGOs which receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad must register as “ organizations serving the interests of a foreign power. » A decision adopted by the parliamentary majority of the Georgian Dream which provoked massive demonstrations in Tbilisi in the spring of 2024.

« Mikhail Kavelashvili represents the most radical wing of the Georgian Dream, judge Thorniké Gordadzé. He was even part of a group of deputies who were the forerunners of the anti-Western and anti-European strategy of the Georgian Dream. They took up the rhetoric, the Russian narrative on the LGBTQ+ threat, on Europe and the United States as being the enemies of Georgian traditions, and the West as being promoters and instigators of the war in Ukraine… He is of this movement . »

For the first time, the future president is not elected by direct universal suffrage, but appointed by an Electoral Commission of elected officials, following a constitutional change decided in 2017 at the request of the Georgian Dream. Thus, the ruling party will control the last institution that still eluded it. Indeed, the current president, Salomé Zourabichvilia pro-European diplomat, has become the spokesperson for those who oppose the move away from Georgia's European trajectory, enacted by the current Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, who announced two weeks ago postpone Georgia's accession to the EU until 2028. A decision that sparked new massive protests in Tbilisi and across the country, supported by Salomé Zourabichvili who calls for new elections since the legislative elections of October 26, marred by fraud.

Also readSalomé Zourabichvili, President of Georgia: “I remain the only independent and legitimate institution”

President: a symbolic function that falls into the hands of power

« Since the Georgian Dream came to power, we have had two Presidents of the Republic. Both ended up distancing themselves and opposing Bidzina Ivanishvili, who runs the country like her business and does not tolerate independent thinking, believes Thorniké Gordadzé, who does not hide his opposition to the power in place. So, this time, Ivanishvili chose Mikhail Kavelashvili, because he does not have the skills, he is loyal to him and will not use the institution against him. »

The mandate of Salomé Zourabichvili comes to an end on December 29, “ it is not very surprising that the Georgian Dream chooses a personality more favorable to the government line”, nuance Taline Ter Minassian, director of the Observatory of Post-Soviet States. She emphasizes that “ despite the sincere aspirations of part of the population to join the European Union, Georgia remains very dependent on Russia » in its supplies of wheat or natural gas, as well as for the export of its wine.

According to this specialist in Caucasian countries, beyond the ideological questions which divide the country and unresolved suspicions of electoral fraud, the current Georgian government defends a pragmatic posture, of realpolitikin view of the geography and vital interests of Georgia.

What future for the protest?

The presidency in Georgia is an essentially symbolic function, with very limited resources. But he still has prerogatives, guaranteed by the Constitution. In particular one which could prove decisive for the future of the protest in the streets: if the government wished to declare a state of emergency, to impose a curfew for example – and thus silence the protest in a legal manner – it would need the president's signature.

A signature impossible to obtain from the current pro-European president, Salomé Zourabichvili, who has also declared that she will not leave the presidential palace until new legislative elections are called, the elected Parliament being “illegitimate” according to it and, by extension, the president chosen by an electoral college on December 14 is also. A position that the elected president, Mikhail Kavelashvili, did not fail to criticize: “ The current president has openly insulted and disrespected our most important document, the Constitution of Georgia, and continues to violate it to this day. As a result, our society has become divided. Radicalization and polarization are fueled, especially as our malicious “friends” help to exacerbate this process. »

Will Georgia have two presidents? The next few weeks are likely to be hectic.

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