Tens of thousands of pro-EU protesters are expected to take to the streets in Georgia on Saturday as a 300-seat electoral college dominated by the ruling party is set to choose a new president known for his vehement anti-West views and opposition to LGBTQ rights.
Former soccer star Mikheil Kavelashvili, 53, is the only candidate in the election, which the opposition has said it will boycott and not recognize, insisting that current President Salome Zourabichvili remain the legitimate head of state.
Before 2017, the Georgian head of state — a largely ceremonial position — was elected directly.
But Georgian Dream, which is seen as Moscow-leaning and anti-West, amended the constitution in that year to put the vote in the hands of an electoral college made up of members of parliament and regional representatives.
Constitutional crisis looms
Zurabishvili herself has refused to step down and has called for new parliamentary elections after she and the opposition rejected as fraudulent the results of an October vote that saw the ruling Georgian Dream confirmed in power.
It remains to be seen how the government will react if Zurabishvili, a vigorous pro-Europe advocate, still refuses to leave the position when her successor is inaugurated as planned on December 29.
Georgia has seen street protests against the ruling party since the end of October, with public anger growing even stronger when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze postponed EU accession negotiations until the end of 2028.
Opposition groups accuse Georgian Dream of rigging the parliamentary vote, undermining democracy and moving the Black Sea nation closer to Russia, going against the country’s constitutionally enshrined aspiration to join the European Union.
The party recently introduced laws similar to those passed by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
Reports of violence and torture
Police have been accused of brutal crackdowns on protests, where more than 400 demonstrators have been arrested, according to the NGO Social Justice Centre.
Amnesty International said on Friday that demonstrators had been subjected to “brutal dispersal tactics, arbitrary detention and torture.”
Police have also raided the offices of opposition parties and arrested some of their leaders.
International condemnation
International criticism of the crackdown by Georgian authorities has grown, with Western leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron vehemently supporting the pro-EU movement in the country.
Macron has told Georgians that their “European dream must not be extinguished.”
“We are by your side in supporting your European and democratic aspirations,” he said in a video address.
Earlier this week, Macron called Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, a secretive billionaire who is widely believed to be the main wielder of power in the country.
Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia, is known for his anti-West rhetoric.
The US government has also imposed fresh sanctions on Georgian officials whom it accuses “undermining democracy.”
tj/zc (AFP, AP, dpa)
