The Electoral College has elected Mikheil Kavelashvili as President of Georgia. The 53-year-old politician and former soccer player was the only candidate for the job. Anti-government protests have continued in the capital since Saturday morning.
According to a report on the Eko Kavkaza website (Radio Svoboda branch), 224 people in the 300-member electoral college, including parliamentarians and local government representatives, voted for Mikhail Kavelashvili.
According to the media, representatives of opposition parties did not participate in the vote. At least two members of the Abkhazian People's Assembly also refused to participate in the head of state elections.
Anti-government demonstrations in Georgia
Anti-government demonstrations have continued since early morning in front of the National Diet Building. The crowd is getting thicker by the hour. Demonstrators carried banners reading “The President – a puppet” and “He is not my president”, as well as Georgian and European Union flags. A police cordon and water cannons can be seen around the parliament building and in nearby Volnosi Square. Demonstrators were given industrial glasses, hard hats, masks and raincoats in preparation for the suppression.
The overwhelming majority of seats, 211, are held by representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream party, while 69 seats are held by representatives of opposition parties. The remaining 20 seats are held by representatives of the Abkhazian People's Assembly, whose members do not belong to any political party.
For the first time in Georgia, the president was not directly elected.
The inauguration ceremony of the new head of state is scheduled for December 29th.
More details coming soon.
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