“He received 224 votes, one ballot was spoiled (the deputy of the Supreme Council of the Abkhaz Republic Ada Marshania did not vote)”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Members of the electoral college, the absolute majority of which consisted of representatives of the ruling pro-Russian party “Georgian Dream”, elected Kavelashvili as president. He received 224 votes, one ballot was spoiled (the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Abkhaz Republic Ada Marshania did not vote).
Kavelashvili, a former football player and representative of the People’s Power party, which formally broke away from the ruling party, was the only candidate. He is 53 years old, without a higher education. Kavelashvili is a football veteran who started his career in Lokomotiv Tbilisi, then moved to Dynamo, where he became a six-time champion of Georgia. In 1995, he moved to the Vladikavkaz club “Spartak-Alania”, and in 1996 to “Manchester City” (28 matches, 3 goals). He also played for clubs in Switzerland. He played 46 matches for the Georgian national team, scoring 9 goals.
The legitimacy of the elections is not recognized by the participants of the action who gathered near the parliament with the demand to call new parliamentary elections. President Salome Zurabishvili said that “her mandate will continue until a new president is elected by the new parliament.”
The current president, Zurabishvili, commented on the elections in which Mikheila Kavelashvili was declared the winner: “There is nothing. No one chose anyone. Nothing happened.”
On Saturday, December 14, the electoral college of Georgia elected the country’s president. Protesters who do not recognize the legitimacy of these elections gathered near the parliament building.
Protests have been ongoing in Georgia since November 28. They began after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the suspension of negotiations on joining the EU until 2028.