Georgia's ruling party nominates former footballer Kavelashvili to replace current president

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the Georgian Dream political party, said on Tuesday that Georgian Dream has nominated former football player Mikheil Kavelashvili as its presidential candidate.

Source: European Pravda, with reference to Georgian pro-opposition TV channel Formula

Details: Kavelashvili is one of the MPs who split from the Georgian Dream party to form the Power of the People party and stood out for his harsh anti-Western statements.

He was number 18 on the Georgian Dream party list in the 26 October parliamentary elections.

"Mikheil Kavelashvili needs no special introduction to the public. As a successful football player, he has been defending Georgia’s honour for years. Misha was an experienced football player on the Georgian national team. He has been a champion in several countries [...]

By his nature, if you will, by the way he conducts himself, he is the best embodiment of a Georgian person. He is a wonderful husband and father of four children," Ivanishvili said.

Kavelashvili personally thanked Ivanishvili for his trust and said that his task would be to return the presidency to the "constitutional framework".

Kavelashvili began his football career at Lokomotiv Tbilisi and played for Dinamo Tbilisi, where he and his team became six-time champions of  Georgia. He also played for Spartak Alania in Vladikavkaz and for Manchester City, and for several clubs in Switzerland. He played 46 matches for the Georgian national team.

For the first time in Georgia, the president will be elected indirectly. This will be done by a 300-member electoral college.

Salome Zourabichvili was the last president to be elected by direct vote in a general election. Her term of office ends in December 2024.

Background:

• Opposition parties do not recognise the election results in Georgia, stressing that the Georgian Dream party had stolen them and boycotting the parliament.
• On 25 November, the day of the first session of the new parliament, a large protest took place in Tbilisi, with protesters gathering the day before and spending the night on the central Rustaveli Avenue.

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