By Gleb Stolyarov and Felix Light
TBILISI (Reuters) -Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, was sworn in as Georgia’s president on Sunday amid a political crisis after the government froze talks on applying for European Union membership, in a a move that sparked large protests.
Outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU opponent of the ruling party, said in a defiant speech to supporters outside the presidential palace that she was leaving the residence, but that Kavelashvili had no legitimacy as president, which is a largely ceremonial position.
She said, “I’ll get out of here and be with you.”
“I take the legitimacy, I take the flag, I take your trust,” he added, before leaving the palace to mingle with his followers.
Zourabichvili says Kavelashvili was not properly elected, as the lawmakers who elected him were elected in an October parliamentary election that she says was marred by fraud. Georgia’s opposition parties support her.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and the country’s electoral commission say October’s elections were free and fair. The ruling party says Kavelashvili is the duly elected president.
The presidential showdown is seen as a watershed moment in Georgia, a mountainous country of 3.7 million people that until recently had been considered one of the most democratic and pro-Western of the former Soviet states.
Kavelashvili is loyal to Bidzina Ivanishvili, a reclusive billionaire former prime minister who is widely seen as Georgia’s de facto leader.
On Friday, the United States imposed sanctions on Ivanishvili, saying he was leading Georgia’s current anti-Western and pro-Russian turn.
PROTESTERS SHOW RED CARDS
Kavelashvili, a former professional footballer who briefly played as a striker for Manchester City, has repeatedly accused Western intelligence agencies of plotting to draw Georgia into war with neighboring Russia.
“The Georgian people have always understood that peace is the main prerequisite for survival and development,” he said after taking the oath of office on Sunday.
Protesters outside parliament flashed red cards in a mocking reference to Kavelashvili’s athletic career. Local media reported that six people were briefly detained amid clashes with police.
“Right now, this so-called government is telling us that they have installed the new president, but there is no new president for us, for the Georgian people who are here day and night,” protester Mariam Japaridze told Reuters.
“We only have one legitimate president, and this is Salomé Zourabichvili,” he stated.
Georgian Dream won almost 54% of the vote in the October election, according to official results.
Local and international election observers have said the vote was marked by violations that could have affected the results. Western countries have called for an investigation.
Zourabichvili has the backing of the country’s four main pro-EU opposition parties, which have boycotted parliament since the election. They say she will remain the legitimate president until new elections are held.
The confrontation comes amid a month of protests sparked by Georgian Dream’s suspension of EU accession talks until 2028, abruptly halting a long-standing national goal of joining the bloc that is written into the country’s constitution. country.
The move sparked widespread anger among Georgians, who polls show are staunchly pro-EU, and sparked a police crackdown, with more than 400 people, including senior opposition leaders, detained.
Zourabichvili has accused Georgian Dream of deliberately sinking Georgia’s EU hopes and instead moving towards Russia, from which Georgia gained independence in 1991.
Opposition supporters say that under Zourabichvili, who was elected with the support of Georgian Dream in 2018 before breaking with the party in recent years, the presidency was the only institution in the country that was not ultimately under the control of the founder of the ruling party, Ivanishvili.
They say that with the installation of Kavelashvili, Ivanishvili will have full control over Georgia.