The Albany Gazette - Mikheil Kavelashvili, ex-Man City striker and Georgia's disputed far-right president

Picked by the governing Georgian Dream party as a loyalist, the former forward for English Premier League champions Manchester City is known for his expletive-laden parliament speeches and tirades against government critics and LGBTQ people.

He was voted into the role by an electoral college controlled by Georgian Dream, after the party abolished the use of popular votes to elect the president under controversial constitutional changes passed in 2017.

Kavelashvili was the only candidate and his inauguration came amid a major political crisis -- thousands of anti-government protesters have staged daily rallies in Tbilisi for a month, outraged at Georgian Dream for shelving EU accession talks.

In a speach after taking the presidential oath, Kavelashvili, known for his far-right views and derogatory comments against LGBTQ people, praised Georgian "traditions, values, national identity, the sanctity of the family, and faith".

Minutes before he took the oath in parliament, outgoing pro-Western leader Salome Zurabishvili said she remains the "country's only legitimate president."

For the first time in Georgia's history, the swearing-in ceremony took place behind closed doors in parliament.

Protesters have described Kavelashvili as a "puppet" of billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country's de facto leader and Georgian Dream's founder.

On Friday, Washington imposed sanctions on Ivanishvili, arguing he undermined the country's democratic future for Russia's benefit.

Sporting a moustache and combed-back hair, Kavelashvili is infamous for his remarks about LGBTQ people while defending Georgian Dream's adoption of Kremlin-style laws curbing their rights.

The ex-footballer slammed the West for wanting "as many people as possible (to be) neutral and tolerant towards the LGBTQ ideology, which supposedly defends the weak but is, in fact, an act against humanity".

- Football roots -

Born in Georgia's tiny southwestern town of Bolnisi in 1971, Kavelashvili began his career as a professional footballer in the 1980s, playing for clubs in Georgia and Russia and becoming a striker for his country's national team.

The 53-year-old played for Manchester City from 1995 to 1997, scoring on his debut against bitter crosstown rivals Manchester United.

He then joined Swiss club Grasshoppers, where he spent most of his time on the bench, before stints elsewhere in Switzerland at Zurich, Luzern, Sion, Aarau and Basel.

Kavelashvili was disqualified from running for president of the Georgian Football Federation in 2015 due to a lack of higher education -- a requirement for the role.

He has served as an MP for Georgian Dream since 2016 and was elected to the legislature on the party's list in October 2024 polls that opposition groups say were rigged and have refused to recognise.

In 2022, Kavelashvili, alongside other Georgian Dream lawmakers, established a parliamentary faction called People's Power -- an anti-Western group that officially split from the governing party but was widely seen as its satellite.

- 'Oligarch's puppet' -

He is known for profanity-laced statements against opponents and has accused Western leaders of trying to drag Georgia into Russia's war on Ukraine.

Georgian Dream nominated Kavelashvili for the largely ceremonial presidential post in late November, aiming to strengthen its grip on power.

But his nomination outraged many in Georgia, especially those taking to the street.

"I can hardly imagine anyone less suited for the role of head of state," one protester, historian Nika Gobronidze, 53, told AFP.

He said Ivanishvili chose Kavelashvili as a tool he could control.

"Caligula wanted his horse to be a consul, our oligarch wants his puppet Kavelashvili to be a president," he said, referring to the notorious Roman emperor.

- 'Illegitimate' -

Kavelashvili's legitimacy is disputed from the onset, with constitutional law experts -- including one author of Georgia's constitution, Vakhtang Khmaladze -- calling his election "illegitimate".

Tbilisi is currently engulfed in a constitutional crisis, with Zurabishvili refusing to step down until October's parliamentary elections are re-run.

The new parliament approved its own credentials in violation of a legal requirement to await a court decision on Zurabishvili's bid to have the election results annulled -- which was later thrown out.

(T.Brown--TAG)