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Mikheil Kavelashvili, a member of Georgia's ruling party, was sworn in as president of the Caucasus country, sparking further protests in the capital Tbilisi.
Kavelashvili's inauguration marks the latest step in what critics have described as a state capture by Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose Georgian Dream party has brought all the country's institutions under its control since coming to power in 2012. elected this month by a college of 300 members, mostly GD members or supporters.
Protesters took to the streets with red cards – a symbol of their opposition to the former footballer, Manchester City player and many Swiss clubs, turned the ultranationalist fire.
Protesters, who have held daily rallies for the past month as the political situation escalated, welcomed the US administration's move to impose sanctions on Ivanishvili. He was hit by measures, which were announced on Friday, “undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of the Russian Federation”.
Leaving the Orbeliani Palace, the seat of the president, on Sunday, Salome Zourabichvilithe country's outgoing president and leader of the opposition, insisted that he still owns the country in this role.
In a speech to Georgians gathered in front of the palace, he denounced Kavelashvili's appointment as “ridiculous” and affirmed his loyalty to “the country and the people . . . I will leave here with you, stay with you.
Zourabichvili was unsure whether to lock himself in the palace or leave it, several people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times. He had said that too he was not going to back down until new elections were held, saying that the college, controlled by members of the ruling party, had no authority to elect Kavelashvili as president.
He also sought fresh elections. The European parliament said the October vote was “unfree and wrong”.
Georgia he experienced a year of political upheaval. On December 14 last year, people took to the streets of Tbilisi and other cities to celebrate the country's EU candidate status, a long-held dream for many in the tiny Caucasus nation of 3.8mn.
But the slide into authoritarianism accelerated in May when parliament adopted a law on foreign agencies, dubbed the “Russian law” for its consistency with Moscow's crackdown on dissent, despite months of protests.
Non-governmental organizations warned that it was a tool to destabilize society, symbolizing Russia's use of a “foreign agency” as a prelude to prosecution. Unlike Russia, Georgian organizations must register themselves, but most NGOs have refused to protest.
The next flashpoint came in October's parliamentary elections when Georgian Dream claimed 54 percent of the vote. There was widespread crime on election day, including voting, stolen IDs and “carousel voting”, where the same people voted at multiple polling stations, according to many observers. Opposition parties rejected the results, boycotting parliament and calling for new elections.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the minister supported by the GD, in late November announced that Georgia was suspending the negotiations to join the EU, promising to revisit the issue in 2028 so that the country could join “with dignity”.
The protests grew in intensity and were met with an unprecedented police crackdown, with many hospitalized and hundreds arrested.
“The breakdown of the system appeared as people turned away from the Georgian dream, seeing their neighbors and family being beaten – this was the last straw,” said Tamar Chergoleishvili, an opposition politician and media executive.
Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the Droa! (It's time!), part of the liberal coalition that came second in the parliamentary elections according to official results, called the opposition “national opposition”.
“It's not about which party you like. It is about whether you and your children can continue to live in this country in a peaceful way,” he said.
For some opposition politicians, the country's descent into dictatorship came as no surprise.
“For more than 10 years I have been saying that Ivanishvili's path is towards (former Ukrainian president Viktor) Yanukovich,” said Giga Bokeria, a former national security adviser. “I'm surprised by the speed and some of the turns, but not the turn itself.”
Kornely Kakachia, director of the Georgia Institute of Politics in Tbilisi, said the ruling party is taking a gamble by increasing its pressure on the public.
He said: “The more they squeeze people, the more they come out. The people of Georgia will not tolerate this. Too many people (are) fed up with Ivanishvili. “