Georgia’s new parliament has elected a virulent critic of the West as president in a development certain to fuel public protest over what opposition groups fear is an effort to put the country back under Russian control.
Installed after an allegedly fraudulent election in October, the parliament voted unanimously in favour of Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former Manchester City footballer, as president. The incumbent, Salome Zurabishvili, champion of Georgia’s effort to join the European Union, has vowed not to step down.
As the voting went on inside parliament, hundreds of protesters gathered outside, some playing soccer and waving red cards in a mocking reference to Kavelashvili’s sporting career.
Protesters kicked footballs about outside parliament, seemingly to mock Kavelashvili
DAVID MDZINARISHVILI/EPA
“Georgia never loses its sense of humour, celebrating the election of a footballer as president,” Zurabishvili wrote on