Responsive Sliding News Banner

Georgia’s president slams her successor’s appointment as ‘a mockery of democracy’

Zourabichvili has vowed to remain president after his six-year term ends on Monday, saying parliament is illegitimate and has no power to choose his successor.

ADVERTISING

Georgia’s outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili attended an opposition rally in Tbilisi and criticized the election board’s decision to appoint former football player Mikheil Kavelashvili as her successor as “a parody”.

Kavelashvili, 53, was the only candidate to participate in the vote and was elected Georgia’s new president by all but one of the 225 voters who participated in the vote.

Kavelashvili is a staunch critic of the West, and many opposition figures see his appointment as evidence that the ruling Georgian Dream is tightening its grip on power and moving the country away from EU goals.

Zourabichvili, who has long been at odds with the Georgian Dream, called Saturday’s elections a “mockery of democracy.”

He objected to the results of the October 26 parliamentary elections in which Georgian Dream remained in power and, like many opposition figures, suspects the vote was rigged with Russian help.

He vowed to remain president after the six-year term ends on Monday, calling Parliament illegitimate and lacking the power to choose his successor.

“I will remain your president; there is no legitimate Parliament, so there are no legitimate elections or inaugurations,” he posted on X late last month.

“My duty continues”

He has been highly critical of the ruling party, accusing it of implementing pro-Russian policies, and has refused to sign into law some of the bills he sees as more contentious legislation.

Georgian Dream’s attempts to oust him were unsuccessful.

Opposition parties have also said that they will continue to view Zourabichvili as the legitimate president of the country even after Kavelashvili takes office on December 29.

Who is Mikheil Kavelashvili?

The new president had a successful football career, playing as a striker for English Premier League team Manchester City as well as some teams in the Swiss Super League.

He was first elected to parliament in 2016 as a member of Georgian Dream, and in 2022 he co-founded the People’s Power political movement, which allied with Georgian Dream and is known for its strong anti-Western rhetoric.

Kavelashvili also co-authored the controversial law requiring organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power.”

Russia has a similar law used to discredit organizations critical of the government.

ADVERTISING

Unrest in Georgia

Many in Georgia oppose the results of the October parliamentary elections and suspect Russian interference to keep what they see as the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream in power.

Protests broke out against the results, but took on a new dimension and spread beyond the capital Tbilisi following Georgian Dream’s decision on 28 November to suspend EU accession talks until at least 2028.

This decision came in response to a resolution by the European Parliament criticizing the elections as neither free nor fair.

It was stated that the election represented another manifestation of Georgia’s ongoing democratic decline, for which “the ruling Georgian Dream party is entirely responsible.”

ADVERTISING

International observers say they have seen examples of violence, bribery and double voting at the polls, leading some EU lawmakers to demand a rerun.

The EU granted candidate status to Georgia in December 2023 on condition it follows the bloc’s recommendations, but Brussels suspended that process earlier this year following the adoption of a controversial ‘foreign influence’ law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms. .

Critics also accused Georgian Dream of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted towards Moscow. The party has recently introduced laws similar to those the Kremlin has used to curb free speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

Read more

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *