A former Manchester City footballer is poised to become Georgia’s next president after being selected as the ruling party’s candidate.
Mikheil Kavelashvili, 53, who also played for the Georgian national team, is all but guaranteed to win the largely ceremonial role.
He will be elected by Georgia’s 300-seat electoral college, which is dominated by the Georgian Dream party.
The party’s victory in last month’s parliamentary elections has been mired in controversy, with European election observers raising concerns over allegations of bribery, double voting, and physical violence.
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These issues sparked protests and led to a parliamentary boycott by the opposition. Critics have accused Georgian Dream of growing more authoritarian and increasingly aligned with Moscow.
Kavelashvili, who was elected to parliament in 2016 on the Georgian Dream ticket, has claimed that “radicalisation and polarisation” in Georgia have been fueled by external forces.
He also criticized outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili for what he called a violation of the constitution and promised to “restore the presidency to its constitutional framework.”
The ruling party has recently pushed through controversial laws that critics argue mirror Kremlin tactics, curbing freedom of speech and restricting LGBTQ+ rights.
In June, the EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely after the Georgian parliament passed a law requiring organizations receiving over 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power.”
The law is widely seen as resembling similar Russian legislation aimed at discrediting groups critical of the government.
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Zourabichvili, whose six-year term ends next month, has refused to accept the official results of the parliamentary election and continues to reject the legitimacy of the current parliament.
Unlike her predecessor, who was elected by popular vote, the new president will be chosen by the electoral college following constitutional amendments that abolished direct presidential elections.
With Georgian Dream holding a majority in the electoral college, Kavelashvili’s candidacy is expected to be confirmed.
Kavelashvili’s football career included a stint as a striker for Manchester City during the 1995-96 season, and he later played in the Swiss Super League.
In addition to his political career, he co-founded the People’s Power movement in 2022, which has become known for its staunchly anti-Western rhetoric and aligns with Georgian Dream in parliament.
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