Protesters took to the streets after the inauguration of Georgia’s new president

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Mikheil Kavelashvili, an ally of Georgia’s authoritarian ruling party, has been sworn in as president of the Caucasus country, sparking protests in the capital Tbilisi.

Kavelashvili’s inauguration marks the final step in what critics describe as the usurpation of the state by pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose Georgian Dream party has placed all of the country’s institutions under their control since coming to power in 2012. The sole candidate for the role was elected this month by a 300-member, mostly GD or sympathetic people.

Protesters took to the streets with red cards – a symbol of their opposition to the former footballer, a striker for Manchester City and several Swiss clubs, have become ultra-nationalist firebrands.

Protesters, who have staged daily demonstrations over the past month as the country’s political crisis escalated, welcomed the US State Department’s move to impose sanctions on with Ivanishvili. He was hit by the measures announced on Friday for “undermining democracy and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future for the benefit of the Russian Federation”.

Leaving the Orbeliani Palace, the presidential seat, on Sunday, Salome Zourabichvilithe country’s outgoing president and de facto opposition leader, said she remained the legitimate holder of the role.

In a speech to Georgians gathered in front of the palace, she denounced Kavelashvili’s inauguration as a “parody” and affirmed her loyalty to “the country and its people. . . I will leave here with you and stay with you.

Zourabichvili was unsure whether to barricade himself in the palace or leave it, several people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times. She also spoke She won’t step down until new elections are held, argues that the university, dominated by ruling party members, does not have the legitimacy to elect Kavelashvili as president.

She has also demanded new elections. The European Parliament said the October vote was “not free and fair”.

Georgia It’s been a year of political upheaval. On December 14 last year, people took to the streets of Tbilisi and other cities to celebrate the country winning EU candidate status, a long-held dream for many in the small Caucasus nation with These 3.8 million people.

But the authoritarian slide accelerated in May when parliament passed the foreign agents law, dubbed the “Russian law” because of its similarity to Russia’s methods of suppressing dissent. Moscow, despite months of protests.

NGOs warn it is a tool to destroy civil society, mirroring Russia’s use of the label “foreign agent” as a precursor to prosecution. Unlike in Russia, organizations in Georgia must register themselves, but most NGOs refused to object.

The next flashpoint occurred in October’s parliamentary elections when Georgian Dream won 54% of the vote. According to many observers, there were widespread violations on election day, including ballot stuffing, identity theft, and “rotational voting,” in which the same person votes at multiple locations. polling station. Opposition parties rejected the results, boycotted parliament and demanded new elections.

Irakli Kobakhidze, the GD-backed prime minister, announced in late November that Georgia was suspending EU accession negotiations, pledging to review the issue in 2028 so that the country could join “ properly”.

The protests grew in intensity and were met with unprecedented police repression, leaving dozens of people hospitalized and hundreds detained.

“Cracks in the system appeared when people turned on the Georgian Dream, watching their neighbors and families suffer,” said Tamar Chergoleishvili, an opposition politician and former communications director. beating – this is the last straw.”

Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the Droa! (It’s About Time!), part of the liberal coalition that came second in the parliamentary election according to official results, called the opposition “a nationwide protest movement.”

“It’s not about which party you like. The issue is whether you and your children can continue to live in this country peacefully,” she said.

For some opposition politicians, the country’s slide into dictatorship comes as no surprise.

“For more than 10 years, I have said that Ivanishvili’s trajectory is forward [Ukraine’s former pro-Russian president Viktor] Yanukovich,” said Giga Bokeria, a former national security adviser. “I might be surprised by the speed and certain types of turns, but not the turn itself.”

Kornely Kakachia, director of the Georgian Institute of Politics in Tbilisi, said the ruling party is gambling by increasing oppression of civil society.

“The more they oppress people, the more they go out,” he said. “Georgians will not tolerate this. Too many people [have] fed up with Ivanishvili.”