Georgia inaugurated its new president Sunday amid claims his controversial election was a sham.
Mikheil Kavelashvili, a far-right firebrand and former footballer, was sworn in at a ceremony in the country’s parliament, consolidating the hold of the ruling pro-Russian Georgian Dream party on the levers of power in the South Caucasus country.
After the ceremony, Kavelashvili praised Georgian “traditions, values, national identity, the sanctity of the family, and faith,” according to a BBC report. “Our history clearly shows that, after countless struggles to defend our homeland and traditions, peace has always been one of the main goals and values for the Georgian people.”
Meanwhile, his pro-EU predecessor, Salome Zourabichvili, has insisted she won’t stand aside. Zourabichvili on Saturday joined thousands of people across the country in forming human chains to protest the installation of the new president.
Speaking on Sunday, Zourabichvili said she would leave the presidential palace, but continued to insist the new presidency is illegitimate. “This building was a symbol only as long as a legitimate president was sitting here,” she said.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze last week threatened Zourabichvili with jail if she didn’t step aside.
Speaking on a podcast Friday, Zourabichvili said: “This election, and hence the inauguration of the president, is not valid, so I remain president and I continue to do my job — that is what everybody has to know.”
Kavelashvili was the only candidate in the presidential election, which took place through an electoral college dominated by the increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream. The opposition did not put forward a candidate and boycotted the polling, saying the process had been rigged from the start.
Protests have spread across the country since the October vote, and escalated after the Georgian government decided to suspend the country’s EU membership negotiations.
