Outgoing Georgian president refuses to leave office

Salome Zourabichvili has pledged the military’s loyalty to the West and demanded a new election

Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia’s outgoing president who has supported street protests against the post-Soviet nation’s government, has reiterated her intention to cling to power despite the election of her successor earlier this month.

The French citizen’s term in office expires on Sunday, when former Manchester City player Mikhail Kavelashvili is set to be inaugurated as the new president. The once-powerful position is largely ceremonial under the current Georgian constitution. 

Zourabichvili and several opposition parties want to overturn the results of the parliamentary election, which the ruling Georgian Dream party won in a landslide in October.

”I remain loyal to the country, to the constitution, on which I made an oath six years ago,” the outgoing president told her supporters during a rally on Sunday evening. “I am also loyal to the army, which in its turn is loyal to the partners who created, armed and strengthened the Georgian Army. I am and will remain its commander-in-chief.”

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The US was largely responsible for training and arming the Georgian Army during President Mikhail Saakashvili’s term in office from 2008 to 2013. Georgian Dream rose to power in opposition to his policies and was responsible for disempowering the presidential office through constitutional amendments after the 2012 parliamentary election.

Zourabichvili, whose speech in Tbilisi was plagued by technical problems, demanded the date for a new election to be agreed before December 29 and promised to make an additional announcement on Monday.

The Georgian president is responsible for calling a new election, but they must meet certain conditions to do that. 

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned Zourabichvili that she could face criminal prosecution if she formally declares a new poll in violation of the constitution.

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”No one wants to put a 72-year-old woman in jail, but with such a move she would set up all those people, who would stand with her in such a scenario,” the head of government warned.

Kobakhidze said he hoped that Zourabichvili would not cross the red line, considering that she and her supporters would face lengthy prison terms. The fact that she has yet to announce a new election indicates that “someone smart” has given her sound advice, the prime minister said.