‘New President is elected by 'Georgian Dream’

The Georgian Parliament is currently holding elections for a new President. The only candidate is ex-football player Mikhail Kavelashvili, nominated by the ruling 'Georgian Dream', who has no higher education.

As a member of the Parliament for three convocations, he is remembered by the public for his anti-Western statements, fights at meetings and use of foul language.

Many citizens regarded his nomination as an insult to the institution of the President and the state as a whole.

The opposition does not participate in the Parliament, and has not nominated candidates as stating that it will not recognise the new President.

The incumbent President Salome Zurabishvili called the Presidential election ‘travesty’ and ‘provocation’. Like the opposition, she considers the Parliament illegitimate.

Zurabishvili is not going to resign until new Parliamentary elections are held in the country.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakliy Kobakhidze said Zurabishvili will still have to ‘retire’ after Kavelashvili's inauguration on 29 December.