Former Manchester City player elected President of Georgia

Georgia's Electoral College voted 224 votes in favor of electing Mikheil Kavelashvili as its new president on December 14. This is the first time Georgia has used the electoral college to elect a president since amending the Constitution in 2017.

Georgia has 300 electors, including parliamentarians, members of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara and the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, and representatives of local government bodies. However, only 225 people voted this time.

Sixty-one opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote, as they did not recognize the results of the October 26 parliamentary election, in which the ruling Georgian Dream party won nearly 54% of the vote, which the opposition said was due to fraud.

Mr Kavelashvili was nominated for the largely ceremonial presidency last month by former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. Mr Ivanishvili is seen as Georgia’s de facto leader and has sought to strengthen ties with neighbouring Russia, a move unpopular with many Georgians, according to polls.

Mr Kavelashvili, 53, is a former footballer who played for English club Manchester City from 1995-1997, scoring three goals in 28 appearances. He also played 46 times for the national team, scoring nine goals.

The politician has been a member of parliament since 2016 and is one of the founders of the People Power Party, which split from the ruling party.

He co-authored Georgia's controversial "Foreign Agents" Act, which requires organizations receiving more than 20% of their budget from foreign funding to declare them to the government and imposes heavy fines for violations.

In public speeches this year, he has repeatedly accused Western intelligence of trying to push Georgia into war with Russia.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside parliament ahead of the vote to protest against Mr Kavelashvili. Some played football in the streets and waved red cards at parliament in a mockery of his football career.

Outgoing President Saome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU and critical of the ruling party, has positioned herself as the leader of the protest movement and has said she will not leave office after her term ends. She considers Georgia's current parliament illegitimate, saying the October election results were "rigged".

In a social media post just before the vote, President Zourabichvili said the election to choose his successor was "a mockery of democracy".

The opposition also announced that it would continue to consider Ms. Zourabichvili as the legitimate President, even after Mr. Kavelashvili takes office on December 29.