Georgia’s crisis deepens as ex-footballer Kavelashvili to be named president | Global News Avenue

A former Manchester City footballer will be appointed Georgia’s president on Saturday after 16 days of pro-EU protests that have swept the country’s towns and cities.

Mikheil Kavelashvili, 53, is a former lawmaker in the increasingly authoritarian ruling Georgian Dream party. On Saturday, he is expected to be chosen by an electoral college controlled by the ruling party.

His appointment comes after a hotly contested process in Georgia’s controversial parliament – with four main opposition groups rejecting him and refusing to attend parliamentary events. They insist the October election was rigged.

Georgia’s outgoing pro-Western president Salome Zurabichvili denounced Kaverashvili’s election as a travesty, insisting she controls Georgia’s only remaining legitimate institutions.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused the president of trying to harm Georgia’s interests and stressed that she will have to retire when her term ends on December 29.

“We have very strong state institutions, so we have no difficulty in fully controlling the situation,” he said on Friday.

Party colleague Nino Zilosani told reporters that Zurabicvili was no longer president in the public eye.

Protests against the “Georgian Dream” began immediately after the October elections but erupted when the government announced on November 28 that it would shelve accession talks until 2028.

The vast majority of Georgians support the country’s path to EU membership, which is part of the constitution.

Every night, the main boulevard outside parliament is packed with protesters draped in EU flags, demanding new elections.

Saturday’s parliamentary vote is expected to last several hours and trigger a surge in anti-government protests. The 300-member Electoral College, composed of parliamentarians and local officials from across the country who are loyal to the “Georgian Dream”, will conduct a direct vote.

Ahead of the vote, sudden protests broke out in the capital Tbilisi on Friday, including IT experts, public sector workers, creative industry professionals, actors and lawyers.

“We are here to establish once and for all a legal state that respects constitutional provisions and human rights,” said lawyer Davit Kikaleishvili, 47.

Kavelashvili is the founder of the People’s Power Party, which is known as Georgia’s main voice of anti-Western propaganda.

He accused the opposition of acting as a “fifth column” from abroad and described President Zurabicvili as the “chief agent”.

Kavelashvili entered politics after being disqualified from seeking leadership of the Georgian Football Association due to lack of qualifications.

Although his party fought alongside the Georgian Dream party in the October elections, it has now decided to act as a “healthy opposition” in parliament to fill the shoes of the “so-called radical opposition funded by foreign powers”.

Georgian Dream, founded by billionaire businessman and former Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, has been accused of dragging the country back into Russia’s sphere of influence.

The European Union and the United States have both condemned the government’s democratic backsliding, and more than 460 people have been detained across Georgia in the past two weeks, according to Transparency International.

The organization said more than 300 people, including dozens of Georgian media figures, had been abused or tortured. Over the weekend, thugs attacked a television reporter and photographer.

this The EU has condemned “Brutal, illegal force by police” and foreign ministers will consider measures against the government when they meet on Monday.

this The U.S. State Department has implemented visa restrictions Georgian officials, including government ministers and police officers.

Protesters have called for international sanctions against senior government officials and Georgia’s most powerful man, Vidzina Ivanishvili.

Pro-government groups also harassed civil society activists, beating them outside their doors and arbitrarily arresting them.

“Citizens are subjected to systematic torture, inhuman and degrading treatment,” said former Public Rights Defender Nino Lomjaria.

Theater workers at Friday’s protest chanted: “Police are everywhere and justice is nowhere to be found.”

At one point, two men climbed onto a construction crane as protesters marched down the avenue. The two waved Georgian flags as the crowd below cheered.