A former Manchester City football player is set to take on the largely ceremonial role of Georgia’s next president after the ruling Georgian Dream party nominated him as their candidate.
Mikheil Kavelashvili, 53, who also represented Georgia’s national team, is virtually guaranteed to secure the position.
The president will be selected by a 300-member electoral college, dominated by Georgian Dream, following their disputed victory in last month’s parliamentary elections.
European election monitors highlighted allegations of bribery, double voting, and physical violence during the polls.
The controversial outcome has triggered mass protests, with opposition parties boycotting the parliament.
Critics accuse Georgian Dream of an increasingly authoritarian stance, aligning more closely with Moscow.
The party recently passed laws resembling Kremlin policies that target freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
One such law mandates organisations receiving over 20% of their funding from abroad to register as foreign agents—prompting the EU to suspend Georgia’s membership application process in June.
Kavelashvili, addressing the media, blamed “radicalisation and polarisation” on foreign interference and pledged to return the presidency to its constitutional limits.
The player also criticised outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili, who has refused to acknowledge the election results, claiming they undermine parliamentary legitimacy.
President Zourabichvili’s term concludes next month. Unlike her, who was elected through a popular vote, Kavelashvili will assume office under new constitutional reforms, with the president now chosen by an electoral college comprising MPs, municipal council members, and regional legislators.
With Georgian Dream holding a majority in the electoral college, the player’s ascent to the presidency appears inevitable.
