Ex-footballer and ruling party loyalist, Mikheil Kavelashvili, was elected as the sixth president of Georgia on December 14 against a backdrop of mass civil unrest.

The newly elected head of state, who was the sole candidate, secured 224 out of 225 votes, surpassing the 200-vote threshold needed to win the post. This was the first time in Georgia that a president has been elected indirectly through an electoral college, rather than directly through a public vote.

Thousands of Georgians mobilised throughout the day outside the parliament building on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue to condemn the vote, which was held inside parliament and concluded around 2pm local time.

Demonstrators, who gave been gathering on Rustaveli every evening for the last 16 days, view the election as a sham and an attempt by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party to capture Georgia’s only remaining liberal institution through the installation of a loyal “puppet” president.

They demand a new round of parliamentary elections under international supervision. Citing systemic violations during the recent October 26 parliamentary vote, they declare the newly formed GD government to be illegitimate and therefore unauthorised to vote in a new president.

The incumbent Salome Zourabichvili, whose term is due to expire this month, also does not recognise the GD government and has declared herself the “only legitimate state institution” remaining in Georgia. She says she will remain in the post until new elections are held.

The current wave of protests was triggered by an announcement on November 28 by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze that the country would be suspending accession negotiations with the EU until 2028.

GD, the only faction left in parliament following a boycott by the pro-EU opposition, nominated Kavelashvili as its presidential candidate. As the sole candidate, he was guaranteed the post, owing to the ruling majority GD enjoys in the 300-member electoral college who chose the new head of state. 

On the morning of December 14, protesters gathered outside parliament played with footballs and held up their own university diplomas, ridiculing the GD nominee’s lack of higher education and professional credentials.

Zourabichvili appeared in the crowd outside parliament around 10:30am local time to show her solidarity with demonstrators, and was greeted by loud applause. 

“I am here, and I will remain here because this country is in need of a legitimate, legitimately elected institution that represents the public … both at home and abroad,” Zourabichvili stated in an address to the nation on the eve of the presidential vote. She vowed on November 30 that she would stay on as their president even after her term ends on December 16, and would remain in office until a legitimate parliament elects her legitimate successor.

Through the afternoon on December 14, a number of separate groups marched through Tbilisi to join the main protest outside parliament, including environmental activists and mothers, many of whom have had to endure their children suffering beatings and arrests by police through the last 16 nights of demonstrations.

As of the afternoon of December 14, police cordons were once again stationed on the side streets either side of the parliament, and water cannon vehicles were mobilised on Liberty Square. This was the largest police presence in over a week.

The annual switch on of the city’s Christmas lights and main Christmas tree is scheduled to take place on the evening of December 14 in front of parliament, the main protest site of the last 16 days. Many consider this a provocation by the ruling party and predict force will be used to attempt to clear crowds of demonstrators from the site to make way for the children and families who have been encouraged by the authorities to come out to see the lights switched on.