TBILISI, Georgia — Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, was sworn in as president of Georgia on Sunday amid a political disaster after the federal government froze European Union software talks in a transfer that sparked major protests.
Outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU opponent of the ruling social gathering, stated in a defiant speech to supporters exterior the presidential palace that she was leaving the residence, however that Kavelashvili had no legitimacy as president, which is a largely ceremonial place.
She stated: “I’ll come out of right here and be with you”.
“I’m taking legitimacy with me, I’m taking the flag with me, I’m taking your belief with me,” she added, earlier than strolling out of the palace to mingle along with her supporters.
Zourabichvili says that Kavelashvili was not duly picked, because the lawmakers who selected him have been elected in an October parliamentary election that she says was marked by fraud. Georgia’s opposition events help her.
The Georgian Dream ruling social gathering and the nation’s election fee say that the October election was free and honest. The ruling social gathering says Kavelashvili is the duly elected president.
The presidential standoff is seen as a watershed second in Georgia, a mountainous nation of three.7 million that had till lately been considered among the many most democratic and pro-Western of the previous Soviet states.
Kavelashvili is a loyalist of Bidzina Ivanishvili, a reclusive billionaire ex-prime minister who’s extensively seen as Georgia’s de facto chief.
On Friday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Ivanishvili, saying he was spearheading Georgia’s present anti-Western and pro-Russian turn.
Protesters maintain up crimson playing cards
Kavelashvili, a former skilled soccer participant who briefly performed as a striker for Manchester City, has repeatedly accused Western intelligence businesses of plotting to drive Georgia into warfare with neighbouring Russia.
“The Georgian folks have at all times understood that peace is the principle prerequisite for survival and improvement,” he stated after being sworn in on Sunday.
Protesters exterior parliament held up crimson playing cards in a mocking reference to Kavelashvili’s athletic profession.
Georgian Dream received nearly 54% of the official vote in October’s election.
Local and worldwide election screens have stated the vote was marked by violations that might have affected the outcomes. Western international locations have referred to as for an investigation.
Zourabichvili is backed by the nation’s 4 principal pro-EU opposition events, which have boycotted parliament for the reason that election. They say she is going to stay the authentic president till contemporary elections are held.
The confrontation comes amid a month of protests sparked by Georgian Dream’s suspension of EU accession talks till 2028, abruptly halting a longstanding nationwide aim of becoming a member of the bloc that’s written into the nation’s structure.
The transfer touched off widespread anger amongst Georgians, who polls present are firmly pro-EU, and prompted a police crackdown, with over 400 folks, together with senior opposition leaders, detained.
Zourabichvili has accused Georgian Dream of intentionally sinking Georgia’s EU hopes and as an alternative transferring in the direction of Russia, from which Georgia gained independence in 1991.
Opposition supporters say that beneath Zourabichvili, who was elected with Georgian Dream’s help in 2018 earlier than breaking with the social gathering lately, the presidency was the one establishment within the nation not in the end beneath the management of ruling social gathering founder Ivanishvili.
They say that with the set up of Kavelashvili, Ivanishvili could have complete management over Georgia.
