Mikheil Kavelashvili was inaugurated as president of Georgia on Sunday, following a tumultuous election period marked by further divisions between pro-Russian and pro-EU factions of the former Soviet state.
Kavelashvili, 53 – an ex-lawmaker for the right-wing ruling Georgian Dream party and former English Premier League soccer star – was sworn in at the country’s parliament in Tbilisi. A hardline critic of the West, he was the only candidate in the running, after opposition parties boycotted the parliamentary process to elect a president.
Kavelashvili pledged to be “everyone’s president, regardless of whether they like me or not.” He urged Georgians to unite around “shared values, the principles of mutual respect, and the future we should build together.”
“The Georgian people have always understood that peace is the main prerequisite for survival and development,” he said on Sunday.
In recent weeks, Kavelashvili’s succession to the largely ceremonial role sparked condemnation from key opposition groups, and fierce protests by citizens who oppose the government’s decision to delay its bid to join the European Union.
Outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-Western opponent of the ruling party, maintained a hardline position in her speech to supporters on Sunday outside the presidential palace.
“I will come out of here and be with you,” she said. “I am taking legitimacy with me, I am taking the flag with me, I am taking your trust with me,” she added.
Protesters waved red cards in reference to Kavelashvili’s footballing career. “Because today our president is a footballer, we are showing him a red card. The next step will be sending him off the pitch. The Georgian people will definitely do this, because it was a circus that they have held today in the parliament,” protester Sofia Shamanidi told The Associated Press.
CNN has previously reported on police and masked “special forces” unleashing a brutal crackdown on dozens of demonstrators – some of whom were left hospitalized. CNN asked the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment on the alleged brutality by the masked forces but did not receive a response.
Georgia’s interior ministry has said that more than 150 officers have been injured during the protests.
Critics have raised concerns over Kavelashvili’s competence for the role, citing his background in sport rather than politics. In 2016, he arrived on the political scene after being disqualified from seeking the leadership of the Georgian football federation because he has no higher education.
The Georgian Dream received almost 54% of the vote. For the first time, the president was selected in parliament by a direct ballot of a 300-member electoral college made up of MPs and representatives of local government.
Because the four main opposition groups have boycotted parliament since October’s disputed election, Kavelashvili was the guaranteed victor. Local and international election monitors have said the vote was marked by violations, and Western countries called for an investigation.
At the time, Zourabichvili said the process was “illegitimate” and alleged “a Russian special operation – a new form of hybrid warfare waged against our people and our country.”
Many Georgians feel deep-seated resentment toward Russia, which invaded Georgia in 2008 and occupies about 20% of its internationally recognized territory – about the same proportion it occupies in Ukraine. Despite recent Russian aggression against Georgia, Georgian Dream has long been accused of harboring pro-Russian sympathies and Ivanishvili made his fortune in the Soviet Union.
CNN’s Christian Edwards and Sophie Tanno contributed reporting.
