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14th December 2024
04:26pm GMT
A former Manchester City player has become the president of Georgia.
Back in 2017 another ex-City player, George Weah, was elected president of Liberia, standing in office until his electoral defeat last year.
Now another former Sky Blue has taken power in his home country as Mikheil Kavelashvili has become the president of Georgia.
The news comes after controversial changes to the electoral system which saw the nation's ruling party win a recent parliamentary election filled with accusations of "bribery, double voting and physical violence".
Kavelashvili played as a forward for Manchester City from 1996 to 1997, making 28 appearances and scoring three goals.
He has now been chosen as president by the 300-seat electoral college, largely controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Georgian Dream's political success was undermined by protests and the boycotting of parliament by the opposition.
Many critics claim the party are becoming more authoritarian and have began leaning towards Moscow.
Kavelashvili said "radicalisation and polarisation" in the country have been fuelled from abroad and accused the outgoing president of violating the constitution.
Kavelashvili has strong anti-Western, often conspiratorial views.
The ex-footballer was also one of the authors of a controversial law requiring organisations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as "pursuing the interest of a foreign power" - similar to a Russian law used to discredit organisations critical of the government.
He said that he would "restore the presidency to its constitutional framework".
In recent times, Georgian Dream have cracked down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights with laws introduced similar to those used by the Kremlin.
The outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili, who was elected by popular vote, rejected the election results with her term ending next month.
Since her ascension to power, constitutional changes have abolished the direct election of the president.
Protesters gathered outside Tbilisi's parliament building after his appointment this morning, bringing their University diplomas after criticism that Mr Kavelashvili lacks higher education.
They kicked around footballs and brandished red cards. One protester described the vote as 'treason' against what he said was Georgians desire to integrate with the West.
Kavelashvili played 46 times for Georgia scoring nine goals.
