Georgia’s ruling party has announced Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former parliamentary deputy and professional soccer player, as its candidate for president in an election due to be held on December 14.
Kavelashvili, who played briefly for Manchester City as a striker in the mid-1990s, is a founder member of People's Power, a splinter group of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and has a record of hardline, anti-Western statements.
In September, he described the opposition as a “fifth column” who were trying to undermine peace in Georgia at the instruction of “the American administration and specific senators.”
In June, he accused U.S. congressmen of planning “a direct violent revolution, a plan for the Ukrainization of Georgia, and an insatiable desire to destroy our country.”
His election is all but assured, as Georgian Dream dominates the electoral college of members of parliament and local government representatives.
Although the president's post is largely ceremonial, the choice of Kavelashvili is likely to be viewed by the European Union and the United States as a further sign that Georgia is turning away from the West and moving closer to Russia.
He is set to succeed President Salome Zourabichvili, who was elected as an ally of the governing bloc, but has become a trenchant critic, accusing it of deliberately derailing Georgia's EU accession hopes.
Zourabichvili has denounced last month's parliamentary election, won by Georgian Dream, as fraudulent, and opposition lawmakers have refused to take their seats in parliament.
Tinatin Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement, described Kavelashvili’s nomination as part of “a Russian coup against the Georgian nation.”
Questions about Kavelashvili’s qualifications have also emerged, with critics pointing to his lack of higher education.
Georgian political analyst Vakhtang Dzhabiradze said that Kavelashvili would likely lack political independence and instead follow directives from his political group.
In September, he described the opposition as a “fifth column” who were trying to undermine peace in Georgia at the instruction of “the American administration and specific senators.”
In June, he accused U.S. congressmen of planning “a direct violent revolution, a plan for the Ukrainization of Georgia, and an insatiable desire to destroy our country.”
His election is all but assured, as Georgian Dream dominates the electoral college of members of parliament and local government representatives.
Although the president's post is largely ceremonial, the choice of Kavelashvili is likely to be viewed by the European Union and the United States as a further sign that Georgia is turning away from the West and moving closer to Russia.
He is set to succeed President Salome Zourabichvili, who was elected as an ally of the governing bloc, but has become a trenchant critic, accusing it of deliberately derailing Georgia's EU accession hopes.
Zourabichvili has denounced last month's parliamentary election, won by Georgian Dream, as fraudulent, and opposition lawmakers have refused to take their seats in parliament.
Tinatin Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement, described Kavelashvili’s nomination as part of “a Russian coup against the Georgian nation.”
Questions about Kavelashvili’s qualifications have also emerged, with critics pointing to his lack of higher education.
Georgian political analyst Vakhtang Dzhabiradze said that Kavelashvili would likely lack political independence and instead follow directives from his political group.
More In Politics MORE...
