Former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili elected Georgia's 6th president

By Davit Kachkachishvili

TBILISI, Georgia (AA) - Former Georgian national footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili was elected the country's sixth president Saturday.

The Central Election Commission, formed by members of the 300-member parliamentary Election Council, voted on the new president.

Nominated by the ruling Georgian Dream party, Kavelashvili received 224 of 300 votes to become president.

Sixty-one opposition members refused to participate in the vote due to their rejection of the results of the Oct. 26 parliamentary elections.

Since gaining independence in 1991, Georgia introduced constitutional changes in 2017 that made the president the first to be elected by a 300-member council.

Out of 225 participating members, 224 voted for Kavelashvili, with one vote being invalid.

A minimum of 151 votes was required for the election to proceed.

Kavelashvili, 53, is a co-founder of the People's Power party, which was founded in 2022 after he, along with two other lawmakers, left Georgian Dream.

The People's Power party currently holds six seats in the 150-seat parliament.

The four major opposition groups have rejected Kavelashvili's presidency and boycotted parliament, claiming the October elections were rigged.

Protesters gathered outside parliament in large numbers since morning, braving freezing temperatures ahead of the vote.

The former footballer won more than 40 caps for the national team between 1991 and 2002, playing as a striker for clubs such as Dinamo Tbilisi, Manchester City and Basel.

*Writing by Muhammed Enes Calli in Istanbul