Georgia's possible rapprochement with Russia.

Up to a third of protesters were foreigners, Georgian Dream said, 12.03.2024.

Georgian Dream Representative: About 30% of Protesters Were Foreigners.

TBILISI, December 3 — RIA Novosti. About a third of the participants in opposition protests in Georgia were foreigners, including Russians, said Mamuka Mdinaradze, executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party.

"About 30 percent of the identified persons at the rallies in Tbilisi are foreigners. How is this possible, what is happening? Up to 30 percent. And most of them are Russian citizens," the speaker said.

The latest round of opposition protests began in Georgia on November 28, after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the postponement of the start of negotiations on Georgia's accession to the EU until 2028.

The protesters threw stones, bottles, and firecrackers at the parliament building, and on the night of December 1, they set it on fire. The police dispersed them several times using water cannons and tear gas, but every evening the activists gathered for a new rally.

According to the Georgian Interior Ministry, over the course of several days, police detained more than 200 participants in the riots. Over 110 law enforcement officers were injured during the protests.

Mass protests have been going on in Georgia for over a month, starting after the parliamentary elections on October 26. The Georgian Dream party won. Four opposition parties also entered parliament, but they said they would not recognize the election results and called on their supporters to take part in rallies. President Salome Zurabishvili , who is helping the pro-European opposition (although the constitution requires the president to be non-partisan), also called for demonstrations.

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Georgia went to the footballer, by Andrey Rezchikov for VZGLYAD. 12.14.2024.

Georgia is headed by a multiple national football champion.

Former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili has been elected the new president of Georgia, receiving more than 55% of the vote. The opposition, which gathered in the center of Tbilisi for a protest in the morning, was unable to prevent the vote. Outgoing President Salome Zurabishvili considers Kavelashvili's election illegitimate and refuses to leave her post. Does she have the slightest legal grounds to remain in power?

On Saturday, the Georgian Central Election Commission announced the election of a new – sixth – president of the country, MP and former football player Mikhail Kavelashvili. After processing 100% of the ballots, the politician received more than 55% of the votes – 224 out of 300 members of the Electoral College voted for him. In addition to MPs, it included heads of local administrations, as well as representatives of the Supreme Councils of Adjara and Abkhazia.

Kavelashvili was nominated as the sole candidate by the ruling Georgian Dream party. The four opposition forces that entered parliament following the October elections refused their mandates, considering the voting results to be falsified. Therefore, they did not nominate their candidates. To win in the first round, it was necessary to receive two-thirds of the votes. The presidential term is limited to five years.

This was the first indirect presidential election in the country. According to the head of the Georgian Central Election Commission, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the voting was held without violations. In the morning, groups of protesters gathered near the parliament building in Tbilisi. Some played football in the snow on the street and waved red cards, hinting at the sports career of Kavelashvili, who became a six-time champion of the republic as part of Tbilisi Dynamo, and later played for foreign clubs, including Manchester City and Spartak-Alania.

Georgia's State Security Service said on the eve of the parliamentary vote that protest organizers, coordinated by foreign intelligence services, were planning to disrupt the elections. "As we saw, and the public itself observed the entire election process via live broadcast, the elections took place without interference," Kalandarishvili said.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that incumbent President Salome Zurabishvili will be forced to leave office in two weeks, despite her refusal to recognize the election results. The inauguration of the new president is scheduled for December 29. The prime minister added that Kavelashvili's election will strengthen the country's statehood and sovereignty, and will make an important contribution to reducing radicalism and polarization in Georgia.

Following the parliamentary elections in late October, Georgian Dream received more than 53% of the vote, maintaining its leading position. Opposition representatives refused to recognize the results of the vote, and President Zurabishvili called for mass protests. Thousands of people took to the streets of Tbilisi for more than two weeks, but ultimately these actions did not lead to the cancellation of the results of the vote. However, in late November, opposition protests resumed with renewed vigor after the Prime Minister announced his decision to suspend consideration of the issue of starting negotiations on the country's membership in the European Union until 2028.

Participants in the mass protests used pyrotechnics, stones, bottles, and Molotov cocktails were reported to have been found at the scene of the pogroms. Security forces responded by using special equipment, including water cannons.

Experts note that the powers of the Georgian president have been greatly curtailed, but Kavelashvili, who is not subject to influence from Western elites, has a chance to become a unifying figure and put an end to the internal political confrontation in the country.

"Kavelashvili does not have the same connections in the West as Salome Zurabishvili. He is a supporter of the ruling party and a very close person to the Georgian leadership, including the founder of the Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili," notes Georgian political scientist Mamuka Areshidze, who maintains friendly relations with Kavelashvili.

The opposition's boycott of the elections will not affect the legitimacy of the new president. "The opposition says that the Georgian Dream is illegitimate because allegedly this party "does not recognize the civilized world." According to the opposition, only Salome Zurabishvili is legitimate. Tbilisi is under strong pressure from the collective West, which does not recognize the results of the parliamentary elections despite the fact that there has been no official assessment from the OSCE yet," the source recalled.

Areshidze emphasized that there is a "strong Western lobby" behind the Georgian opposition. "I have the impression that, in general, Georgian citizens are not interested in domestic political squabbles. The main irritant is the large geopolitical projects that are supposed to start working in the South Caucasus in the future. All this gives the major players a reason to fight among themselves in this area, including in Georgia," the speaker explained.

"Kavelashvili will not be subject to foreign influence. He is a long-standing supporter of the ruling team. So Ivanishvili will no longer make mistakes, as happened with Zurabishvili," adds Georgian political scientist Igor Gvritishvili.

The former footballer is no stranger to politics, having been elected to parliament twice – in 2016 and 2020 – as a member of the Georgian Dream, and in 2022 he joined the Power of the People party group with a tough anti-Western stance. Last year, the group, which was part of the parliamentary majority, drafted a law on foreign agents, which provoked mass protests.

Kavelashvili also supported the bill banning LGBT propaganda. In 2024, "The Power of the People" became a party, and Kavelashvili took the post of its political secretary. In the 2024 parliamentary elections, he ran on the party list of "Georgian Dream", which included candidates from "The Power of the People".

Political analysts agree that Zurabishvili, who does not recognize the results of the parliamentary elections, has no legal grounds to remain in power, so she must leave her post when her term expires at the end of December.

“If Zurabishvili refuses to leave the presidential palace after her term in office expires, she will be taken by the arms and led out of there.

This will happen at the end of December. Another question is whether the opposition will take other radical actions? There is a great danger of new provocations, including bloodshed. But I am sure that the Georgian special services are ready for any development of events," Gvritishvili believes.

The new president, according to the constitution, has limited powers and mainly performs mediation functions. "If Zurabishvili had a truncated function of commander-in-chief of the troops, then the new president will not have even that. Therefore, the president is mainly a mediator and participant in international politics," Areshidze noted, not ruling out that Kavelashvili will support the church and traditional family values.

Zurabishvili was mainly criticized for not trying to play the role of a mediator, preferring to support one side. Gvritishvili recalled that the attempt by MPs to impeach Zurabishvili was connected with the fact that she tried to exceed her powers by starting to make foreign visits without the consent of the government. "Zurabishvili has taken up foreign policy, which is the prerogative of the prime minister, the government and the parliament," the speaker explained.

The elected president could become a unifying figure and put an end to the political confrontation in the country, but it is difficult to predict whether he will be able to cope with this task.

"Kavelashvili was a popular footballer and married to Tamara Bagrationi, who has noble roots. In Georgia, the Bagrationi family is highly respected, so this also plays a certain role. Kavelashvili himself has certain connections, he is charismatic and knows how to communicate with people. But I cannot say to what extent he will be able to shoulder the new burden of responsibility," Areshidze added.

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