Georgia set to install former footballer as new president

Ex-Man City striker Mikheil Kavelashvili is the only candidate standing in a vote put to politicians rather than the people.

The russia friendly Georgian Dream party, whose rule is not not recognised by the European Parliament, has nominated the ex-striker as the only candidate.

The former Georgian footballer is known for his expletive-laden parliament speeches and tirades against government critics.

The ex-footballer turned far-right politician is set to become Tbilisi’s next figurehead president in an indirect election denounced as “illegitimate” by the current pro-EU president of the country.

He is expected to be voted into the role by an electoral college controlled by Georgian Dream, after the party abolished the use of popular votes to elect the president under controversial constitutional changes passed in 2017.

Protesters have described Kavelashvili as a “puppet” of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream’s founder, who in turn has called him “the embodiment of a Georgian man”.

“I can hardly imagine anyone less suited for the role of head of state,” historian Nika Gobronidze, 53, said.

“Caligula wanted his horse to be a consul, our oligarch wants his puppet Kavelashvili to be a president,” he said, referring to the Roman emperor.

Salome Zourabichvili, the pro-European Georgian President says she does not recognize the presidential election as legitimate.

'I'm not going anywhere, I'm not leaving the office, I'm here and I'll be here,' says Salome Zourabichvili

Zourabichvili highlighted at a news conference that for the first time in Georgian history, the president will be elected by a 300-member electoral college convening in parliament.

The composition of the parliament is however not recognised by the European Union, due to election fraud and russian interference in the elections.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the 26 October parliamentary elections in Georgia, an EU candidate country, for being neither free nor fair, representing yet another manifestation of the continued democratic backsliding of the country “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible”.

MEPs denounce the numerous and serious electoral violations, including documented cases of intimidation of voters, vote manipulation, interference with election observers and media and reported manipulation involving electronic voting machines. The vote results announced by the country’s Central Election Commission “do not serve as a reliable representation of the will of the Georgian people”, they add.

Zourabichvili, who also rejected the results of the Oct. 26 parliamentary elections, urged the government to hold new elections.