Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, on Wednesday, the 27th of November, nominated Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former footballer who briefly played as a striker for Manchester City in the mid-1990s and is a founding member of the ruling party splinter group People’s Power, who has repeatedly made hardline anti-Western statements, as its presidential candidate for the 14th of December presidential elections, reports Reuters.
In recent remarks, Kavelashvili accused the opposition of serving as a “fifth column” trying to undermine peace in Georgia on behalf of US interests and claimed that American lawmakers were planning a violent revolution to destabilise Georgia.
His election is almost assured, as the “Georgian Dream” dominates the electoral body of members of parliament and local government representatives.
He will replace President Salome Zurabishvili, a former ally who has become a critic of the ruling party and who accuses it of sabotaging Georgia’s EU bid.
The President has called last month’s parliamentary elections, which were won by Georgian Dream, fraudulent and opposition lawmakers have refused to attend parliamentary sittings.
In his acceptance speech, the 53-year-old Kavalashvili promised to unite Georgia, while accusing the outgoing president of “insulting and ignoring” the country’s constitution.
Kavalashvili’s candidacy was announced on Wednesday by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire, former prime minister, founder of the “Georgian Dream” and considered the most influential person in the country.
Ivanishvili praised the former footballer as an “outstanding” politician and sportsman, contrasting him with Zurabishvili, whom he accused of “gross betrayal” of the country.
Despite Georgia’s traditionally pro-Western stance, the “Georgian Dream” has strengthened ties with Russia and faces EU criticism for Russia-inspired “foreign agent” and anti-LGBT laws, and Brussels has frozen Tbilisi’s EU bid because of these laws.
Kavelashvili’s People Power party is openly pro-Russian and supports these controversial laws.