By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party on Wednesday announced lawmaker and former football star Mikheil Kavelashvili as its candidate for next month’s presidential election.
Kavelashvili’s nomination was announced by Georgian Dream’s honorary Chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili in a briefing at party headquarters in the capital Tbilisi after a meeting of its political council.
The lawmaker’s nomination was declared a day after Georgia’s parliament voted to hold the country’s presidential election on Dec. 14. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said the president’s inauguration would be held on Dec. 29.
For the first time, Georgia’s president will be elected by a 300-member college of electors, approved by the country’s Central Election Commission, rather than through a direct vote.
The parliamentary session took place as days-long protests continued in the capital Tbilisi over the results of the Oct. 26 parliamentary election, which have been rejected by incumbent President Salome Zourabichvili and opposition parties.
Zourabichvili, who was elected as Georgia’s sixth president in 2018, refused to recognize the results, alleging that the election was marred by Russian interference, while opposition parties said the election was stolen.
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. People's Power currently holds six seats in the country’s 150-seat parliament.
A former professional footballer, Kavelashvili won over 40 caps for the Georgian national football team between 1991 and 2002, playing as a striker for clubs such as Dinamo Tbilisi, Manchester City, and Basel.