Georgia’s governing party picks former soccer player as presidential candidate

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.”

Sophiko Megrelidze, The Associated Press