Man City love a player-turned-president
A former Manchester City player is set to become the president of Georgia.
Back in 2017 another ex-City player, George Weah was elected president of Liberia, standing in office until his electoral defeat last year.
Now another former Sky Blue is set to take power in his home country as Mikheil Kavelashvili is almost guaranteed to become the president of Georgia.
The news comes after controversial changes to the electoral system which saw the nation’s ruling party win a recent parliamentary election filled with accusations of “bribery, double voting and physical violence”.
Kavelashvili played as a forward for Manchester City from 1995 to 1997, making 28 appearances and scoring three goals.
He is now all but chosen as president by the 300-seat electoral college, largely controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Georgian Dream’s political success was undermined by protests and the boycotting of parliament by the opposition.
Many critics claim the party are becoming more authoritarian and have began leaning towards Moscow.
Kavelashvili said “radicalisation and polarisation” in the country have been fuelled from abroad and accused the outgoing president of violating the constitution.
He said that he would “restore the presidency to its constitutional framework”.
In recent, Georgian Dream have cracked down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights with laws introduced similar to those used by the Kremlin.
Current president Salome Zourabichvili, who was elected by popular vote, rejected the election results with her term ending next month.
Since her ascension to power, constitutional changes have abolished the direct election of the president.
Kavelashvili played 46 times for Georgia scoring nine goals.
