Georgia’s ruling party on Wednesday announced that former Manchester City striker Mikheil Kavelashvili would be its candidate for the post of president in a mid-December electoral college vote.

Georgian Dream — which has in recent years deepened ties with Russia — has a majority in the 300-seat college, making the approval of Kavelashvili’s elevation to the mainly ceremonial post all but certain.

What the Georgian Dream party said

“Our team has unanimously decided to nominate Mikheil Kavelashvili for the post of the country’s president,” Georgian Dream’s honorary chairman, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili told a news conference.

“By his nature and habitus, he is the embodiment of a Georgian man,” the tycoon said, adding: “he will defend the interests of Georgia and its people, and will not serve foreign forces.”

Critics accuse Georgian Dream, established by Ivanishvili who made his fortune in Russia, of democratic backsliding and being too close to Moscow.

Kavelashvili is a founder member of People’s Power, a hardline splinter group of the Georgian Dream party, with a record of strong anti-Western statements.

Accepting the nomination, Kavelashvili — who played for City from 1996 to 1997 — pledged to unite Georgia, and accused outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili of having “insulted and ignored” the country’s constitution.

Why is a new president being elected?

Kavelashvili is set to succeed Zourabichvili, who was originally an ally of the governing bloc, at the end of her six-year term as president.

The president has since become a trenchant critic of Georgian Dream, accusing the party of deliberately derailing Georgia’s hopes of EU accession.

While Zourabichvili was elected directly by the people, constitutional changes mean that future heads of state are to be elected indirectly by the political college.

Georgia has suffered turmoil since a disputed parliamentary election on October 26 saw the party secure a new majority.

The vote was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s effort to join the European Union. 

Although Georgian Dream says it wants Georgia to join the EU, Brussels has frozen Tbilisi’s application over newly passed laws on “foreign agents” and the curbing of LGBT rights. 

The opposition said the election was rigged under Russian influence, with Moscow seeking to keep Georgia in its orbit. Georgian Dream is in favor of normalizing relations with the Kremlin after the brief war with Russia in 2008 over control of separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia. 

Opponents of Georgian Dream have since declared a boycott of parliament and Zourabichvili has denounced last month’s election as fraudulent.

Despite the protest, and amid challenges on whether the parliamentary procedure was legal, Georgia’s lawmakers on Tuesday set December 14 as the date for a presidential election under the new rules. 

Last ditch effort to avoid the drop

The 53-year-old Kavelashvili is best remembered for scoring on his debut against cross-city rivals Manchester United in April 1996.

City had gambled on Kavelashvili to save them from the relegation buying him from Dinamo Tbilisi toward the end of the season.

The club had already had a hit with fellow Georgia international Georgi Kinkladze, who signed in the summer of 1995, earning widespread acclaim for his dazzling style of play.

Despite taking seven points from their final three games City were relegated on goal difference, having only taken two points from their first 11 games.

Although Kavelashvili played for City in the First Division, he did not play enough to have his work permit renewed and was loaned to Swiss side Grasshoppers before leaving City permanently.

Before joining City, the striker played for Georgian club Dinamo Tbilisi, with a later move to Russian club Spartak Vladikavkaz paving his way to the Premier League.

Other soccer stars also on Georgia’s political stage

Several other former footballers have also sought the political limelight in Georgia.

They include former AC Milan defender Kakha Kaladze, who was a Champions League winner in 2003 and 2007, and who has served as mayor of the capital Tbilisi since 2017.

Former Freiburg, Schalke and Hertha Berlin defender Levan Kobiashvili is a lawmaker in the Georgian parliament with Georgian Dream.

rc/msh (dpa, AP, Reuters)