Mikheil Kavelashvili sworn in as Georgia’s new president as pro-EU predecessor refuses to recognise his legitimacy.
Mikheil Kavelashvili has been sworn in as Georgian president in a ceremony in Parliament within the capital Tbilisi, amid weeks of protests and the refusal of his pro-Western predecessor to face apart.
Outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili stated on Sunday in a defiant speech to a whole bunch of supporters exterior the presidential palace that she was leaving the residence however remained the professional officeholder.
“This parody, which is at the moment being performed out in parliament, is a real parody that the nation has not deserved,” Zourabichvili stated.
She added that Kavelashvili was not duly picked, because the legislators who selected him have been elected in an October parliamentary election that she says was marked by fraud.
The professional-European Union chief and protesters are demanding a brand new vote to interchange the election in query.
The Georgian Dream governing occasion and the nation’s election fee say the October election was free and truthful.
Kavelashvili, a 53-year-old former nationwide footballer, took his oath on the Bible and the Georgian structure, swearing to serve the nation’s pursuits amid a political disaster.
In response to native media reviews, there have been no important protests exterior the parliamentary buildings whereas Kavelashvili was being sworn in.
Duly elected president
The governing occasion, which controls the parliament, additionally says Kavelashvili is the duly elected president.
The Georgian Dream occasion had threatened Zourabichvili with jail if she refused to depart the presidential residence within the centre of Tbilisi.
The federal government led by Georgian Dream froze EU software talks in a transfer that prompted nice protests.
Georgian Dream’s opponents accuse it of steering Tbilisi in the direction of Moscow relatively than in the direction of the Caucasus nation’s longstanding purpose of becoming a member of the EU.
