by Admin
Dec 15, 2024
Mikheil Kavelashvili,53, has been voted by the Georgian parliament as the next president of the country after a 17 days protest that crippled the country’s economic and political system.
Mikheil Kavelashvili, 53, an ex-football player of Manchester City who played for the club for two years (1995-1997) emerged as the new Georgian president after 224 out of 225 members of the electoral college voted for him.
Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former Member of Parliament from the authoritarian ruling Georgian Dream party was deemed the only candidate for the presidency.
However, the other four main opposition parties bluntly rejected Kavelashvili as the President and boycotted parliament while insisting that the elections held in October were rigged.
Salome Zourabichvili, the outgoing president of Georgia has been a critic of Kavelashvili and also condemned the October election that brought him as the President while she insisted that she is the only remaining legitimate constitutional leader of the country.
On the other hand, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Prime Minister of Georgia has condemned the outgoing President for her derogatory remarks about the election, and Kavelashvili, the Prime Minister said Zourabichvili is acting in an authoritarian direction which is quite dangerous for the interest of the country.
Kobakhidze said, “We have very strong state institutions, so we certainly have no difficulty in bringing the situation under full control”.
Georgia is a country that practices a parliamentary democracy with the president the head of state, and the prime minister the head of Parliament.
The country has been under constant protest after the parliament announced that the country’s accession to the European Union would be on hold until the year 2028.
The decision by the parliament sparked raging nonstop protests for 17 days because the majority of Georgian citizens are in support of the country’s membership in the European Union.