By Gleb Stolyarov and Felix Light
TBILISI (Reuters) – Mikheil Kavelashvili, a staunch critic of the West, was sworn in as Georgia's president on Sunday amid a political crisis after the government halted talks on its European Union application in a move that sparked mass protests.
Outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili, an EU critic of the ruling party, said in a defiant speech to supporters outside the presidential palace that she was leaving the residence but leaving official office.
Zourabichvili says Kavelashvili was not elected properly, as the lawmakers who elected him were elected in October's parliamentary elections, which he says were marked by fraud. Georgia's opposition parties support him.
The ruling party Georgian Dream and the country's election commission said the October elections were free and fair. The ruling party says Kavelashvili is a duly elected president.