With fire and ball: how the Georgian presidential election will be held
Presidential elections will be held in Georgia on December 14. For the first time in the country's history, there will be no need for a general vote; the head of state will be determined by members of parliament and local councils. The opposition is planning to prevent the ruling party from doing so, and the incumbent president Salome Zurabishvili has already announced that she does not intend to leave her post. "Izvestia" looked into the situation.
How the elections will be held
Presidential elections will be held in Georgia on December 14. It is important to know that seven years ago the country underwent a constitutional reform, as a result of which a general vote is no longer required, the head of state will be determined by a special electoral college of 300 people. This commission will include members of parliament and local councils.
To win in the first round, a candidate needs to get at least 200 votes. The ruling party can count on 156 electors, the opposition has 124 supporters, and two dozen members are not members of any party. Accordingly, it can be assumed that the first round will not be enough to determine the winner.
According to the constitution, in this case a second round will follow. And here the ruling party can already count on success, because in this round a simple majority of votes will be enough. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that in case of failure of the first round the second round will be held on the same day, i.e. the name of the new Georgian president will be known on December 14 anyway.
Who will be the candidate
The ruling party has nominated MP and former soccer player Mikhail Kavelashvili for president. "He is characterized by justice, honesty, patriotism and principle. He is the best embodiment of a Georgian man, a wonderful husband and father of four children. I am confident that Mikhail Kavelashvili will regain the dignity temporarily taken away from the institution of the President. The team made a unanimous decision regarding his nomination" - said the founder of the Georgian Dream Bidzina Ivanishvili.
It is known that within his sports career Kavelashvili played for Dinamo Tbilisi, with which he became the Georgian champion six times, later became the Russian champion as a member of Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz, then played in Manchester City and several Swiss clubs. In 2016, he was elected to the Georgian parliament, regularly advocated traditional values, criticized the EU and the United States, although he supported the course of European integration. In 2022, he became one of the initiators of the scandalous law on foreign agents.
Mikhail Kavelashvili, former forward of Spartak-Alania soccer team (Vladikavkaz), July 1, 1995
In the opposition, Kavelashvili's candidacy sparked violent protests. Opponents drew attention to the fact that the potential head of state has no higher education, and the relevant column on the website of the Georgian parliament is empty. In addition, Kavelashvili is reproached for lack of charisma, he has never been in the ratings of popular politicians. The ruling party responds that the candidate for the highest office is "more educated than many even without a diploma" and sincerely loves his country.
At the same time Kavelashvili will have no rival, opposition parties refused not only to nominate their candidates but also to vote on December 14. According to them, the current composition of the parliament and thus the electoral college is illegitimate. The position of former Prime Minister Georgi Gaharia raised the most questions, but he, too, said his party would boycott the elections "so as not to support authoritarianism."
Against what background the elections will take place
The outcome of the vote seems predetermined, but scandal still cannot be avoided. The fact is that the current President Salome Zurabishvili, who is also one of the leaders of the opposition, has already stated that she is not going to leave her post. According to her, the current composition of the parliament is illegitimate, and therefore the head of state elected with its participation will be fake. "There will be no inauguration, my mandate will continue until there is a real parliament in the country," she said in a special televised address.
The ruling party responds by saying Zurabishvili will have to leave the presidency anyway. "I understand her emotional situation, but the inauguration will take place on December 29, she will have to leave the residence, ceding the building to the newly elected leader," Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said. At the same time, parliamentary deputy speaker Nino Tsilosani warned that if Zurabishvili persisted, "thousands of angry citizens" would force her to leave.
In addition, protests have been going on in the streets of Tbilisi and other major cities since late November, with opposition supporters demanding that the authorities stick to their course of European integration and hold new parliamentary elections. Even now the clashes are fierce, demonstrators throw stones and bottles at law enforcers, launch pyrotechnics, police use tear gas and water cannons. Both sides have suffered many casualties, more than 400 people have been detained, 30 protesters have been brought to criminal responsibility.
Georgia's State Security Service warns that the situation could escalate even more on the eve of December 14. "They are considering the possibility on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to heat up the situation as much as possible, followed by the deaths of two or three people. They want to blame the government for the victims in order to strengthen the protest charge and stimulate radical sentiments, which according to their plan should develop into uncontrollable processes," the report emphasizes.
What experts say
Former Georgian MP Petre Mamradze believes that the election procedure itself will be held without any surprises and the new head of state will be the candidate of the ruling party.
- According to all odds Georgian Dream will calmly choose its candidate. At the same time, I warn all our citizens to be especially vigilant in the coming days. Opposition rallies are fading away, Maidan is not possible, opposition extremists urgently need to breathe new life into their rallies, and the best way to do this is blood or even death. I urge everyone to heed the SGB statement and not to give in to any provocations," he says.
The interlocutor adds that the current President Zurabishvili will have to leave her post anyway.
- She is making very strange statements, her powers are expiring according to all legislative norms, no one cares that she does not like the current composition of the parliament. Perhaps her sanity will prevail and she will leave the presidential palace on her own. But I don't rule out that we will see a colorful performance when law enforcers will forcibly extract her from the residence," says Mamradze.
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili
Alexander Krylov, chief researcher in the Caucasus sector of the IMEMO RAS Center for Post-Soviet Studies, believes the opposition will try to mobilize its supporters by December 14.
- We are likely to see some provocations, attempts to present the public with some sacred victims. I hope that all these efforts will be unsuccessful, as long as the law enforcement agencies act calmly and effectively. After the elections and inauguration of the new president, I think, opposition rallies will start to deflate, after all, the protesters do not have mass support. Salome Zurabishvili herself will be deprived of security, residence and other privileges, and after that she will probably leave the country and move closer to her native European bureaucracy in Paris or Brussels," he suggests.
