Who is Mikheil Kavelashvili, the ex-Manchester City player who could become Georgia's next president?

A former Manchester City player is all set to be Georgia’s next president after the ruling party selected him as its candidate for the upcoming election due to be held on December 14.

The new president will be chosen by the 300-seat electoral college, which is largely controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party.

Mikheil Kavelashvili, 53, who also played for the country’s national team, is almost certain to be elected to the largely ceremonial position.

His nomination comes after a disputed victory in last month’s parliamentary election that has sparked protests.

Here’s all we know about him.

About Mikheil Kavelashvili

Kavelashvili is a founder member of People’s Power, a splinter group of the ruling Georgian Dream Party.

The far-right politician was a striker in the Premier League for Manchester City in the mid-1990s and in several clubs in the Swiss Super League.

He was elected to parliament in 2016 on the Georgian Dream ticket.

In 2022, he founded the People’s Power political movement, which has become known for its staunch anti-Western rhetoric.

Kavelashvili has a record of hardline, anti-Western statements.

In September, he described the opposition as a “fifth column” who were trying to undermine peace in Georgia at the instruction of “the American administration and specific senators.”

In June, he accused US Congressmen of planning for “a direct violent revolution, a plan for the Ukrainisation of Georgia, and an insatiable desire to destroy our country.”

His nomination

Kavelashvili’s nomination was announced on Wednesday by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire former prime minister who founded Georgian Dream and is widely seen as the country’s most powerful figure.

Ivanishvili praised the ex-soccer player as an “outstanding” politician and athlete, contrasting him with outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili, whom he accused of “gross betrayal” of the country.

He further described Kavelashvili as “one of the most prominent members of our political team” and praised his “significant contribution to protecting Georgia’s national interests and strengthening the country’s sovereignty.”

In a speech accepting the nomination, Kavelashvili pledged to unite Georgia while accusing Zourabichvili of having “insulted and ignored” the country’s constitution.

Zourabichvili, whose six-year term expires next month, was elected by popular vote.

However, Georgia has approved constitutional changes that abolished the direct election of the president and replaced it with a vote by a 300-seat electoral college consisting of members of parliament, municipal councils and regional legislatures.

Georgian Dream has a majority in the college, making the approval of Kavelashvili’s candidacy all but certain.

The ruling retained control of the parliament in the election on October 26, which was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s effort to join the EU.

The opposition said the vote was rigged under the influence of Russia seeking to keep Georgia in its orbit and declared a boycott of parliament.

European election observers said the balloting took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.

President Zourabichvili, who was elected as an ally of the governing bloc, has denounced the official results and refused to recognise the parliament’s legitimacy. The opposition lawmakers have refused to take their seats in parliament.

A sign of turning away from the West

Although the president’s post is largely ceremonial, the choice of Kavelashvili is likely to be viewed by the European Union and the US as a further sign that Georgia is turning away from the West and moving closer to Russia.

This is because Kavelashvili’s People’s Power is seen as among the most openly pro-Russian players in mainstream  Georgian politics.

Though Georgia is traditionally among the most pro-Western countries to have emerged from the former Soviet Union, Georgian Dream, in recent years, has also been accused of deepening ties with Moscow and becoming increasingly authoritarian by pushing laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

The European Union suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely in June after parliament passed a law requiring organisations that receive more than 20 per cent 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.

Kavelashvili was one of the bill’s authors.

With inputs from agencies