dpa
Tbilisi
Mikheil Kavelashvili was sworn in as Georgian president in a ceremony in parliament in Tbilisi on Sunday, despite weeks of protests and the refusal of his predecessor, Salome Zourabichvili, to stand aside.
Kavelashvili, a 53-year-old former national footballer turned far-right politician, took his oath on the bible and the Georgian constitution, swearing to serve the country’s interests in the presence of Orthodox Church clerics.
Protesters holding up red cards in reference to Kavelashvili’s footballing career gathered outside the parliamentary buildings following the swearing-in ceremony. They accused political leaders of turning Georgia into a Russian lackey. Police reported detaining six protesters amid scuffles outside parliament.
Earlier, Zourabichvili told supporters that, while she was leaving the presidential palace, she was taking her legitimacy with her. A pro-Western leader who backs Georgia’s accession to the European Union, she has called for fresh elections, dismissing Kavelashvili’s election by an electoral college on December 14.
"This parody, which is currently being played out in parliament, is a genuine parody that the country has not deserved,” Zourabichvili said.
Many of her supporters had hoped that she would stay on in the palace and continue to oppose Kavelashvili’s inauguration to the largely ceremonial post. The ruling Georgian Dream party, which emerged victorious in disputed elections on October 26 and which nominated Kavelashvili, had threatened Zourabichvili with prison if she refused to leave the presidential residence in the centre of Tbilisi.
Large demonstrations have been taking place for weeks, with protesters demanding return to the country’s EU accession process, after Georgian Dream suspended talks to 2028. They have also called for the October elections to be repeated.
Kavelashvili has sat in parliament for the national conservative Georgian Dream since 2016. He previously played as a striker for Manchester United in England and for various Swiss clubs, while also being a regular on the national team over the decade up to 2002.
He was chosen as president by a new process based on an electoral college, made up of members of parliament and local and regional representatives.