Georgia’s governing party taps pro-Russian ex-footballer for president

Mikheil Kavelashvili viewed arsenic shoo-in for ceremonial station fixed Georgian Dream’s power implicit electoral assemblage vote.

Georgia’s governing enactment has nominated far-right person Mikheil Kavelashvili arsenic its candidate for president aft disputed parliamentary elections past month.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire honorary president of the Georgian Dream party, announced the determination connected Wednesday, calling the 53-year-old erstwhile lawman and footballer “the embodiment of a Georgian man” earlier a ballot connected the mostly ceremonial presumption connected December 14.

Kavelashvili, a striker successful the Premier League for Manchester City successful the mid-1990s who aboriginal became known for his hardline, anti-Western statements arsenic person of a Georgian Dream splinter radical called People’s Power, is each but definite to triumph the electoral assemblage vote, fixed the ruling party’s sway implicit its members.

The Black Sea federation has been rocked by turmoil since Georgian Dream won disputed parliamentary elections connected October 26, which were wide seen arsenic a referendum connected the country’s effort to articulation the European Union.

President Salome Zurabishvili has declared the caller legislature “unconstitutional” and is seeking to annul the predetermination results, alleging the ballot was rigged nether Russian influence.

In a code accepting the nomination, Kavelashvili, pledged to unite Georgia portion accusing the outgoing president of having “insulted and ignored” the constitution.

Zurabishvili, whose six-year word expires adjacent month, was elected by fashionable vote.

But Georgia approved law changes successful 2017 that abolished the nonstop predetermination of the president, replacing it with a ballot by a 300-seat electoral assemblage dominated by Georgian Dream.

Although the president’s station is mostly ceremonial, the prime of Kavelashvili is apt to beryllium viewed by the EU and the United States arsenic a further motion that Georgia is turning distant from the West and moving person to Russia.

The ruling party, accused of antiauthoritarian backsliding and deepening ties with Russia, says it wants Georgia to articulation the EU, but Brussels says Tbilisi’s exertion is frozen implicit recently passed laws connected “foreign agents” and restrictions connected LGBTQ rights.

Kavelashvili has accused the absorption of being steered by US congressmen who person “an insatiable tendency to destruct our country” and are readying for “a nonstop convulsive revolution” and the Ukrainisation of Georgia”.

European predetermination observers said past month’s elections took spot successful a “divisive” ambiance marked by instances of bribery, treble voting and violence.

Georgian Dream opened the archetypal league of the caller parliament connected Monday arsenic absorption members refused to instrumentality their seats successful protest. On Tuesday, the ruling party’s lawmakers acceptable the day for the statesmanlike election.

Constitutional instrumentality experts said decisions taken by the caller parliament are invalid due to the fact that determination has been nary ruling yet connected Zurabishvili’s ineligible situation of the results of the October elections.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies