{"id":415387,"date":"2024-12-30T08:52:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T07:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/12\/30\/georgia-kavelashvili-zourabichvili\/"},"modified":"2024-12-30T12:12:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T11:12:20","slug":"georgia-kavelashvili-takes-office-as-president-zourabichvili-leaves-but-labels-him-illegitimate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/12\/30\/georgia-kavelashvili-takes-office-as-president-zourabichvili-leaves-but-labels-him-illegitimate\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia: Kavelashvili takes office as president, Zourabichvili leaves but labels him illegitimate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels–The change of guard at Georgia’s top leadership<\/strong> that took place yesterday (Dec. 29) in Tbilisi was relatively peaceful, though its consequences remain unclear. As\u00a0former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili<\/strong>\u00a0was sworn in as the new president of the republic, thousands of citizens continued to protest for the 32nd consecutive day<\/strong>\u00a0against him and the Georgian Dream Government<\/strong>. Salom\u00e9 Zourabichvili<\/strong>, whose term as head of state expired yesterday, left the presidential residence,<\/strong> allowing her successor to take office, but continues not to accept its legitimacy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Kavelashvili’s inauguration<\/h3>\n

In his inauguration speech<\/strong>, pronounced Sunday morning<\/a> in front of deputies and protected by a host of security officers, Mikheil Kavelashvili<\/strong> promised to be “the president of everyone<\/strong>, regardless of whether they like me or not.” He called on the small Caucasian country to unite around him and “the shared values, the principles of mutual respect, and the future we should build together.” After taking the oath of office, he praised “the traditions, values, national identity, sacredness of family and faith<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

In fact, during the ceremony held in an armored hemicycle, the new head of state addressed only the elected members of Georgian Dream<\/strong>, the governing party founded by pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili <\/strong>(who applauded in the front row alongside Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze<\/strong>) in power continuously since 2012. The deputies from opposition parties boycotted the work of the House, <\/strong>refusing to occupy their seats since\u00a0the Oct. 26 disputed election<\/a>, which they\u00a0denounced as irregular<\/strong> following reports from local and international observers (including those of the OSCE).<\/p>\n

\"Protests<\/a>
Protesters wave red cards and use soccer whistles outside the Tbilisi parliament as Mikheil Kavelashvili takes his oath of office, Dec. 29, 2024 (photo: Giorgi Arjevanidze\/Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Who is the new president<\/h3>\n

Kavelashvili, 53, is a former soccer player and former member of parliament<\/strong>, elected in 2016 with Georgian Dream. In 2022, he founded his own movement, Power of the People<\/strong>, characterized by a particularly aggressive anti-Western rhetoric<\/strong>. An ultranationalist, he is one of the first signatories of the so-called “Russian law,”<\/strong> a measure (a rough copy of a similar one in force in the Federation) that opposition forces and civil society organizations\u00a0branded as repressive, which forces entities that receive at least one-fifth of their funding from abroad to declare themselves “agents of a foreign power<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

That law, adopted by Parliament — which is dominated by Georgian Dream — last spring despite mass protests<\/a> and bypassing the\u00a0veto<\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0then-President Salom\u00e9 Zourabichvili<\/strong>, led the European Council to formalize in the early summer<\/a> to freeze\u00a0Tbilisi’s\u00a0path to EU membership<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Human chain<\/h3>\n

The changing of the guard at Orbeliani Palace<\/strong>, elected as the seat of the presidency by Zourabichvili\u00a0in 2018, came a month and a day<\/strong> after the\u00a0controversial decision<\/a>\u00a0that Premier Kobakhidze announced on Nov. 28 to suspend<\/strong> accession negotiations to the European club “until 2028.” Since then, for four weeks, Georgians have taken to the streets of the capital and other cities to protest the government<\/strong> and its policy choices, which they fear will bring the country increasingly<\/strong>\u00a0into the Kremlin’s orbit and further\u00a0away from Brussels<\/strong> (despite\u00a0EU membership being a\u00a0goal enshrined in the Constitution).<\/p>\n

So, on Saturday, Dec. 28 (exactly one month after the protests began),\u00a0human chains (dubbed “chains of unity”)<\/strong> composed of several thousand people\u00a0formed<\/a> along the streets of Tbilisi and other\u00a0cities as a sign of non-violent opposition to Kavelashvili’s inauguration<\/strong> and to demand the release of detainees arrested<\/strong> during protests of the past weeks.<\/p>\n

\n

Protesters in Georgia formed a \u201cChain of Unity\u201d by standing hand-in-hand to symbolise solidarity and support for the country\u2019s EU aspirations. Similar events occurred in other major cities.<\/p>\n

Live updates: https:\/\/t.co\/Mw3PVNhKGL<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/xnQNgQUxlH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 OC Media (@OCMediaorg) December 28, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The images from above of the protestors holding hands<\/strong>, waving national flags with the five crosses and those with the twelve stars of the EU (and waving red cards to expel metaphorically Kavelashvili<\/strong>), are reminiscent of those of another human chain, also carried out in opposition to Moscow: the so-called “Baltic chain” of August 23, 1989<\/strong>, when 2 million citizens of the then Soviet republics of Estonia<\/strong>, Latvia,<\/strong> and Lithuania<\/strong>\u00a0formed<\/a> a peaceful cordon that extended from Tallinn to Vilnius<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Zourabichvili’s step to the side<\/h3>\n

\n

With Kavelashvili’s inauguration, Ivanishvili’s partymachine has virtually completed the capture of the Georgian state<\/strong>, now holding parliament, the government, and the Presidency of the Republic in its grip. The 72-year-old Salom\u00e9 Zourabichvili<\/strong>, who had held that role since 2018 and was also\u00a0the first woman president and the last one elected by direct vote<\/strong> through universal suffrage, has in recent months become the figure around whom the parliamentary opposition forces<\/strong> and that part of society that does not want to see Tbilisi slide toward Moscow, as she emphasized<\/a> in a recent speech to the European Parliament\u00a0in Strasbourg.<\/p>\n

The former president, a descendant of a family of exiles<\/strong> who escaped from the Soviet invasion of Georgia<\/strong> in 1921 by taking refuge in Paris, has repeatedly said in recent weeks that she does not accept as legitimate the election of her successor<\/strong>, as in her view,\u00a0the\u00a0parliament<\/strong> that named it<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0December 14 was illegitimate. That of the past few months has been a U-turn<\/strong> in her presidency, which began six years ago with the support of the Georgian Dream (and low popularity). In the last stretch of her term, Zourabichvili was\u00a0openly critical of the government and its increasingly markedly authoritarian and pro-Russian tendencies<\/strong>, putting herself forward as the last bastion in defense of Tbilisi’s European path and gaining increasing public favor.<\/p>\n

\"Salom\u00e9<\/a>
Georgia’s now former president Salom\u00e9 Zourabichvili addresses her supporters as she delivers her last speech in the courtyard of Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi, Dec. 29, 2024 (photo: Giorgi Arjevanidze\/Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday, she declared that she would leave her residence<\/strong> but affirmed for the umpteenth time that she still retains herself as the “real” president of the country<\/strong>. “I will leave here. I will come to you, and I will be with you<\/strong>,” she said, addressing the crowd gathered in front of Orbeliani Palace, reiterating that “this building has only been a symbol as long as there has been a legitimate president.” “I bring with me legitimacy. I bring with me the flag. I bring with me your trust<\/strong>,” she concluded before joining her supporters. She called Kavelashvili’s inauguration, which was being celebrated at the same time, a “travesty” of democratic processes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t end here<\/h3>\n

However, Zourabichvili’s move only seemingly lowers the temperature of the political confrontation<\/strong> at the Caucasian country’s top institutions. While it is true that there was not the showdown<\/i> that some observers expected – perhaps with the outgoing president blatantly arrested by the police – it is equally true that there is room in Georgia for only one head of state<\/strong>. The showdown<\/i>\u00a0between the executive and pro-EU opposition forces, led by Zourabichvili, is therefore only postponed.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Tbilisi’s slide toward Russia<\/strong> has triggered unilateral sanctions<\/strong> by some countries — such as the United States and the Baltics — which have taken restrictive measures against the Georgian Dream executives and security apparatus<\/strong> responsible for the violence on protesters<\/a> but not by the 27 member states<\/strong>. The most that Brussels succeeded in doing<\/a>\u00a0— because of the vetoes of Hungary and Slovakia —<\/strong> was remove\u00a0visa facilitation<\/strong> for short stays in the EU from which Georgian diplomats<\/strong> benefited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, December 29, the term of President Salom\u00e9 Zourabichvili, head of state since 2018, officially ended, and her successor, pro-Russian ultranationalist Mikheil Kavelashvili, took office. The protests, ongoing for over a month, did not stop, and it is unclear how the institutional clash at the top of the Caucasian nation will be resolved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":415378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25727,25707],"tags":[30043,29494,26008,27451,29873,26964,29830,27910],"class_list":["post-415387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-spotlight","category-world-politics","tag-accession-georgia-en","tag-bidzina-ivanishvili-en","tag-accession-ue-georgia-en","tag-georgia-and","tag-proteste-georgia-2024-en","tag-irakli-kobakhidzeat","tag-mikheil-kavelashvili-en","tag-salome-zourabichvili-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415387"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415397,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415387\/revisions\/415397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}