In Georgia today, December 14, for the first time in the history of the country, the president was elected not by the population, but by an electoral college, the absolute majority of which is the ruling Georgian Dream party.
As a result, the head of the country’s Central Election Commission, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, declared the winner 53-year-old Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former football player who does not have a higher education, reports Ekho Kavkaza.
Georgian Dream has already announced that the inauguration of the new president will take place on December 29.
The legitimacy of these “elections” is not recognized by the current president of the country, Salome Zurabishvili, who stated that her mandate will continue until the election of a new president by the new parliament, and by the opposition, which is now holding mass protests.
The electoral board includes 150 deputies of the Parliament of Georgia, 21 members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, 20 members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, 109 members of representative bodies of local self-government (sakrebulo).
Despite the boycott by the opposition, members of parliament from four opposition parties (61 oppositionists) who, according to the CEC, overcame the electoral threshold, were formally considered to be part of the electoral college. The quota from the Sakrebulo, which the opposition did not use, was completely occupied by representatives of the Georgian Dream.
Kavelashvili, who was the only candidate in these elections, received 224 votes, one ballot was spoiled.
Kavelashvili was elected to parliament in 2016 from the Georgian Dream. In 2022, together with several colleagues, he left the ruling party and became one of the founders of the anti-Western movement “Power of the People,” which became a full-fledged political party in March 2024. Compared to Georgian Dream, People Power representatives were more harsh in their statements regarding Western countries and politicians.
In 2023, he was one of the initiators of the Foreign Agents Bill in 2023.
On November 27, Kavelashvili was nominated by Georgian Dream as a presidential candidate.
Source: “Echo of the Caucasus”
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.