Mikheil Kavelashvili has been elected the sixth president of Georgia, Novosti-Gruzia reports.
224 voters voted for him. To defeat Kavelashvili, 200 votes were needed — 2/3 of the full composition of the college.
Kavelashvili was nominated by the ruling Georgian Dream, and he was the only candidate.
“As a member of parliament for three convocations, the ex-footballer without higher education was remembered by the public, first of all, for his anti-Western statements, fights at meetings and the use of obscene language. Many citizens regarded his nomination as an insult to the institution of the president and the state as a whole,” the media writes.
Kavelashvili was not present at the vote. He appeared in the meeting room before the announcement of the results. The announcement of his election was met with prolonged applause by the voters. Now he is personally accepting congratulations from like-minded people.
The elections took place against the backdrop of a protest action on Rustaveli Avenue and with enhanced security measures. The opposition, boycotting the work of the parliament, did not participate in them and did not put forward its candidates.
The elections began at 09:00 and ended at 14:00 local time.
For the first time, the president was elected not by direct popular vote, but through electors. The college consists of 150 deputies of the Georgian parliament, 21 deputies of the Supreme Council of Adjara, 20 representatives of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia and 109 deputies of district sakrebulo (city councils). The Georgian Dream completely filled the quota of sakrebulo with its representatives.
As a result, a total of 225 voters participated in the voting. Ada Marshania threw an unmarked ballot into the ballot box, declaring that she considered the only candidate “bad”. Several more deputies of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia refused to participate in the vote in protest.
The sixth president of Georgia is elected for five years. The inauguration will take place on December 29.
The fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, called today’s elections a “parody” and a “provocation.” Like the opposition, she considers the parliament illegitimate. Zurabishvili does not intend to resign until new parliamentary elections are held in the country.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that Zurabishvili will still have to “retire” after Kavelashvili’s inauguration.