Ivanishvili Taps “Patriotic” Ex-Footballer Kavelashvili for Presidency

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman and patron of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, has nominated former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, a member of its nativist faction, “People’s Power,” as its candidate for President of Georgia. Ivanishvili made the announcement at a special briefing today, November 27.

“Honesty, fairness, patriotism, and fidelity to principles are the qualities that particularly distinguish Mikheil Kavelashvili,” Ivanishvili said. He added that “Kavelashvili’s personality best embodies the Georgian man.” Ivanishvili also said: “I am sure that Mikheil Kavelashvili will fully restore the temporarily stolen dignity to the presidential institute…There is no doubt that Mikheil Kavelashvili will not be in the service of foreign powers but in the service of the Georgian state and the Georgian people and will contribute to the progress and success of our country.”

Kavelashvili is a co-founder of the “People’s Power” faction of the ruling party and is known for profanity-laced tirades in parliament and his virulently anti-Western stance, with particular animus directed against the United States. During a 2022 parliamentary session, Kavelashvili directed crude remarks at the critical opposition MPs, saying, “Whoever among us has done the Russian work, f*ck him.” That same year, he accused former U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan of supporting forces allegedly intent on dragging Georgia into the war, a claim widely criticized as part of his broader anti-American rhetoric. Kavelashvili has doubled down on his accusations during this year’s pre-election period and also targeted President Salome Zurabishvili for allegedly acting under the influence of unnamed global forces. “People’s Power” was the faction that formally tabled the law on “foreign agents.”

• People’s Power Attacks Amb. Dunnigan, Says She “Crossed a Red Line”
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• People’s Power Tables Draft Law on Foreign Agents

Kavelashvili thanked Bidzina Ivanishvili and members of the GD majority for the nomination. “Of course, I am aware of how big the responsibility it is to assume the post of President of Georgia, especially against the background that, unfortunately for us, the incumbent President directly abused and ignored our main document—the Constitution—and continues to violate it even today,” Kavelashvili said, adding that his priority will be “to return the presidential institute within the Constitution.”

“My love towards my motherland and my country has no bounds. I will do anything to unite the Georgian society around our national interest, national identity, values, the idea of Georgian independence,” said Kavelashvili.

Contested Elections

GD plans to elect Georgia’s sixth President on December 14, as incumbent Salome Zurabishvili’s term ends. For the first time, the President will be elected indirectly by a 300-member electoral college consisting of members of the Parliament, representatives of the Supreme Councils of Adjara and Abkhazia, and local authorities. Kavelashvili is so far the only official candidate.

Since the legitimacy of parliamentary elections is being challenged at the Constitutional Court due to numerous irregularities by President Zurabishvili, most legal experts, the opposition, and civil society say it is illegal for the parliament to convene and pass decisions. GD sits in the parliament alone, and three out of four opposition groups have already officially pulled their MPs-elect, with the fourth one confirming its intention not to enter the chamber. Accordingly, the opposition won’t be voting for the Presidential elections as MPs, and the opposition parties also pulled their local councilors from the electoral college.

Kavelashvili – Brief bio

Born in 1971, Kavelashvili is married with four children. Since 2016, Kavelashvili has been the Georgian Dream majoritarian MP from Tbilisi’s districts in the ninth (2016-2020) and tenth (2020-2024) convocation parliaments. He was on the GD party list for the current, challenged, eleventh convocation. In 2022, Kavelashvili and other GD members formed a parliamentary faction, People’s Power, an anti-Western group that formally distanced itself from the GD but merged with it before the 2024 Parliamentary elections.

Kavelashvili was a professional footballer starting in 1988. He played for clubs in Georgia, Russia, and Switzerland and has been the striker for the national football team. His official bio says that he started undergraduate studies in economics at Tbilisi State University in 1988 but does not report whether he graduated. In 2015, he was disqualified from running for heading the Georgian Football Federation for the lack of higher education, which was a requirement. A higher education diploma is not required for the President’s position in Georgia. He got his football coach license from Switzerland in 2006.

Also Read:

• 26/11/2024 – GD Says New President to be Elected on December 14
• 25/11/2024 – “Georgian Dream” Usurps Power
  
  

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