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A day before the controversial inauguration of Georgian Dream loyalist Mikheil Kavelashvili as the country's new president, Georgian citizens demonstrate with pro-EU placards and Georgian, American, and European Union flags as they protest the government's decision to suspend European membership talks in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Dec. 28, 2024.
Georgia’s new president sworn in amid protests
On Sunday, Georgia inaugurated President Mikheil Kavelashvili amid growing demonstrations and accusations of election fraud perpetrated by Moscow. Kavelashvili, a former soccer player, was selected by a 300-member electoral college controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which now dominates every major government institution.
Kavalashvili’s appointment comes a month after Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced a suspension of EU accession talks until 2028, a move welcomed in Moscow, but not on the streets of Tbilisi. Thousands of Georgians have demonstrated at the parliament building nightly since the country’s October elections, facing down riot police, water cannons, and tear gas, with hundreds detained and over 100 injured.
The opposition boycotted the election, and the previous President, pro-EU leader Salome Zourabichvili, has refused to step down despite being threatened with jail. While Zourabichvili has now vacated the presidential palace, she has not gone quietly. Speaking on a podcast Friday, she said: “This election, and hence the inauguration of the president, is not valid, so I remain president and I continue to do my job — that is what everybody has to know.”
This means the nation has reached yet another critical turning point, says Eurasia Group regional expert Tinatin Japaridze. “Georgia now has two presidents, yet only one is widely recognized by many Georgians and the international community as the legitimate leader.”
Georgia’s isolation from the West is no longer a looming threat but a reality orchestrated by Georgian Dream founder and “honorary chairman” Bidzina Ivanishvili. What further complicates matters, says Japaridze, is that Ivanishvili now faces unprecedented US Treasury sanctions. Meanwhile, US Congressman Joe Wilson has invited Zourabichvili to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, recognizing her as Georgia’s “only legitimate leader.”
“The duration of this duality is uncertain,” says Japaridze, “but in light of ongoing protests demanding new elections and Western sanctions, it is evident that this crisis cannot persist indefinitely.”