Who is Mikheil Kavelashvili, the ex-Man City player appointed president of Georgia?

12/29/2024 07:36 AM

Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former Manchester Cityfootball player, was sworn in as Georgia’s new president today.

It comes after a controversial election process denounced as ‘illegitimate’ by the outgoing president, Salome Zourabichvili and the country’s four opposition parties.

Kavelashvili, 53, is a member of the far-right Georgian Dream party, which won parliamentary elections in October, but their victory was hit by allegations of fraud.

There have been several protests since – with many Georgians also furious at the government’s decision to suspend its application to join the EU.

The protests continued today, as Kavelashvili was sworn in behind closed doors in the capital, Tbilisi, with thousands taking to the streets.

Who did Kavelashvili play football for?

Kavelashvili started his career in football for Georgian team Dinamo Tbilisi and played for Manchester City from 1995 to 1997, scoring against rivals Manchester United on his debut.

He then joined Swiss club Grasshoppers, where he spent most of his time on the bench, before stints elsewhere in Switzerland at Zurich, Luzern, Sion, Aarau and Basel.

He was disqualified from running for president of the Georgian Football Federation in 2015 due to a lack of higher education – a requirement for the role.

When did Kavelashvili move into politics?

Kavelashvili entered politics in 2016, and was elected to parliament as a member of the Georgian Dream party, before leaving in 2022 to co-found the People's Power party, which is widely seen as a satellite of Georgian Dream.

During his time on Georgia's political scene he has made a name for his anti-Western views and for being one of the most openly pro-Russian players in mainstream politics.

Kavelashvili has made several anti-LGBTQ remarks and defended Georgian Dream’s adoption of Kremlin-style laws curbing their rights.

He criticised the West for wanting ‘as many people as possible (to be) neutral and tolerant towards the LGBTQ ideology, which supposedly defends the weak but is, in fact, an act against humanity’.

He has also accused Western leaders of trying to drag Georgia into Russia’s war with Ukraine.

His presidential nomination was announced by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire former prime minister who founded Georgian Dream and is widely seen as the country's most powerful figure and de facto leader.

Ivanishvili described the ex-football player as an 'outstanding' politician and athlete, contrasting him with Zourabichvili, who he accused of 'gross betrayal' of the country.

What do Kavelashvili’s critics say?

Protesters have called Kavelashvili a ‘puppet’ of billionaire oligarch of Ivanishvili.

Georgian Dream nominated Kavelashvili for the largely ceremonial presidential post in late November, hoping to strengthen its grip on power.

But his nomination – the only one put forward – angered many Georgians, especially those who want the country to join the EU.

‘I can hardly imagine anyone less suited for the role of head of state,’ one protester, historian Nika Gobronidze said.

He believes Ivanishvili chose Kavelashvili as a tool he could control.

‘Caligula wanted his horse to be a consul, our oligarch wants his puppet Kavelashvili to be a president,’ he said, referring to the notorious Roman emperor.

Constitutional law experts, including one author of Georgia’s constitution, Vakhtang Khmaladze, have called his election ‘illegitimate’.

Zurabishvili – who is pro-EU but has previously been backed by Georgian Dream – made a court bid to have the election annulled, but the new parliament went ahead and approved its own credentials in violation of a legal requirement to await a court decision.

Her bid was later thrown out of court.

Today Zurabishvili said she would leave the presidential palace, but refused to step down as president.

She told the crowds gathered outside: ‘This building was a symbol only as long as a legitimate president was sitting here.’

At the inauguration, attended by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Kavelashvili praised Georgian ‘traditions, values, national identity, the sanctity of the family, and faith’.

‘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,’ he said.

Georgia is a parliamentary democracy where the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of parliament.

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