By Felix Light
TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgian lawmakers elected Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hard-line critic of the West, as the country's new president on Saturday, replacing the pro-Western president amid major protests against the government over the freeze on the country's membership in the European Union. Accession talks last month
The ruling Georgian Dream party's move to freeze the EU accession process until 2028, which abruptly halted a longstanding national goal written into the country's constitution, has sparked widespread anger in Georgia, where opinion polls show that seeking EU membership Very popular.
Kavelashvili, a former professional footballer, holds strongly anti-Western, often conspiratorial, views. In his public speeches this year, he has repeatedly claimed that Western intelligence agencies are seeking to push Georgia into war with Russia.
Georgian presidents are chosen by a body of electors composed of members of parliament and local government representatives. Of the 225 voters present, 224 voted for Kavelashvili, who was the only candidate nominated.
All opposition parties have boycotted Parliament since the October elections, in which official results gave the ruling Georgian Dream party nearly 54% of the votes, but the opposition says they were rigged.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered amid light snow outside Parliament before the presidential elections. Some played football in the street outside and waved red cards in the parliament building, a sarcastic reference to Kavelashvili's sporting career.
Kavelashvili was nominated for the presidency last month by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire former prime minister who is widely viewed as the country's supreme leader.
Kavelashvili is the leader of People Power, an anti-Western splinter group from the ruling party, and co-authored a law on “foreign agents” that requires organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents. Foreign influence, and imposes heavy fines for violations.
Outgoing President Salome Zurabishvili, a pro-EU critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party, has positioned herself as leader of the protest movement and said she will remain president after her term ends. Parliament is considered illegitimate as a result of alleged fraud in the October elections.
Opposition parties said they would continue to consider Zurabishvili the legitimate president, even after Kavelashvili's inauguration on December 29.
Tensions in relations with the West
Georgia has been viewed for decades as one of the most pro-Western and democratic successor states to the Soviet Union, but relations with the West have soured this year, with Georgian Dream imposing laws on foreign agents and gay rights that critics say are Russian. – Inspirational and brutal.
Western countries sounded the alarm about Georgia's clear foreign policy pivot and its drift toward authoritarian rule, with the European Union threatening to impose sanctions over the suppression of the protests. In a video address to Georgians published on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “Georgia’s European dream must not be extinguished.”
Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Georgian Dream has moved to improve relations with Russia, which ruled Georgia for 200 years until 1991, continues to support two breakaway Georgian regions, and defeated Georgia in a five-day war in 2008.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside Parliament at night for more than two weeks. Some threw fireworks at police, who used water cannons, tear gas and attacks on ballot boxes to disperse the demonstrations.
The government has repeatedly said that the protests represent an attempt to stage a pro-EU revolution and seize power violently.
The police arrested hundreds of demonstrators. The Georgian Interior Ministry said that more than 150 officers were injured during the protests.
Parliament on Friday approved sweeping new restrictions on protests, increased fines for participants and organizers, and a ban on gatherings using face coverings, fireworks and lasers used to dazzle police officers.
