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)

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — The governing party in Georgia on Wednesday picked a former soccer player as its candidate for president following a disputed victory in last month’s parliamentary election that has sparked protests and led to an opposition boycott of parliament.

The Georgian Dream party nominated Mikheil Kavelashvili, a 53-year old former national team and Premier League player, for the mostly ceremonial presidential post. He is all but certain to win the Dec. 14 vote by the electoral college controlled by the ruling party.

Georgian Dream retained control of the parliament in the Oct. 26 election that was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s effort to join the European Union. The opposition said the vote was rigged under the influence of Russia seeking to keep Georgia in its orbit, and declared a boycott of parliament.

European election observers said the balloting took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.

President Salome Zourabichvili, who has rejected the official results and refused to recognize the parliament’s legitimacy, on Monday snubbed the parliament’s opening session along with opposition parties.

Zourabichvili, whose six-year term expires next month, was elected by popular vote, but Georgia has approved constitutional changes that abolished the direct election of the president and replaced it with a vote by a 300-seat electoral college consisting of members of parliament, municipal councils and regional legislatures.

Georgian Dream has a majority in the college, making the approval of Kavelashvili’s candidacy all but certain.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely in June after parliament passed a law requiring organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government. Kavelashvili was one of the bill’s authors.

On Wednesday, Ivanishvili presented Kavelashvili’s candidacy to parliament, describing him as “one of the most prominent members of our political team” and praising his “significant contribution to protecting Georgia’s national interests and strengthening the country’s sovereignty.”

Kavelashvili was a striker in the Premier League for Manchester City and in several clubs in the Swiss Super League. He was elected to parliament in 2016 on the Georgian Dream ticket. In 2022, he co-founded the People’s Power political movement, which has become known for its strong anti-Western rhetoric.

“Our society is divided,” Kavelashvili said in parliament, charging that “radicalization and polarization” in the country has been fueled from abroad. He accused Zourabichvili of violating the constitution and declared that he will “restore the presidency to its constitutional framework.”

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