IHe is officially the new president. This Sunday, December 29, Georgia inaugurated a new president, contested by thousands of demonstrators in the street because of his loyalty to Russian power unlike the outgoing, pro-European head of state.
Known for his ultraconservative and anti-Western positions, Mikhail Kavelashvili, a former professional footballer, was sworn in in the Georgian Parliament this Sunday morning. He succeeds Salomé Zourabichvili after being elected on December 14 by an electoral college controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party. “Peace has always been one of the main goals and one of the main values of the Georgian people,” declared the president-elect during his speech, while his camp presents itself as a bulwark against the West .
Salome Zourabichvili, “only legitimate president”
Outgoing president, the one who always contested the results of the election had left doubt about her intentions on this particular day. Finally leaving the presidential palace in front of her supporters, Salomé Zourabichvili insisted that she was the “only legitimate president of the country”. “I will leave the presidential palace to stand with you, carrying with me the legitimacy, the flag and your trust,” she said. “We will continue to participate in the protests until there is real change,” explained one of the outgoing president’s supporters.
Proof of this is that after the inauguration of the new head of state, several thousand protesters marched from the presidency to the Parliament, the focal point of the demonstrations which have punctuated life in the Georgian capital for weeks. Most of the demonstrators then dispersed peacefully, some promising to demonstrate again in the evening while a few dozen others remained where they were.
A rigged Georgian presidential election?
Georgia, a country in the Caucasus and the former USSR, has been in turmoil since the legislative elections at the end of October which saw the Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, win. A vote denounced by the pro-Western opposition as being rigged, Salomé Zourabichvili and her supporters demanding that a new vote be organized. The political situation took another turn on November 28 after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the postponement of Georgia’s integration efforts into the European Union until 2028. A declaration which ignited the powder and led to daily pro-European demonstrations which have not stopped since.
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Kangaroo of the day
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For its part, the ruling party accuses the opposition of wanting to provoke a revolution in the country which would be financed from abroad. In late November and early December, during the first ten days of protests in Tbilisi, police dispersed crowds using water cannons and tear gas while demonstrators responded with fireworks and throwing projectiles. Although clashes remain rare, more than 400 people have already been arrested, including several opposition leaders.
Last week, the United Kingdom and the United States imposed sanctions on several senior Georgian officials, including billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who controls the Georgian Dream party. Accused of authoritarian drift and of wanting to turn the country towards Moscow, the party has, in recent weeks, adopted several controversial laws similar to those existing in Russia and targeting civil society, independent media and LGBT+ rights.
