By Willy Fautré from Tbilissi – During yesterday’s demonstrations at the parliament, some citizens have brought diplomas – to mark the fact that the “Georgian Dream” presidential candidate, ex-footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, is just a puppet of the pro-Kremlin party and lacks the needed education to bear the title of “President of Georgia.”

The protesters stated that the ongoing presidential elections in the Parliament of Georgia are an illegitimate process.

President Salome Zurabishvili has also arrived at Parliament, and police and special forces have been mobilized. Ministry of Internal Affairs personnel are stationed in the area surrounded by iron railings in front of the building.

The police forces are also deployed at Freedom Square, where water cannon vehicles are on standby.

Contested election of the new president

On 14 December, the electoral college elected the president of Georgia. Only one candidate, Mikheil Kavelashvili, had been nominated for the position. Opposition parties were not participating in the elections because they considered them illegitimate.

He is the first indirectly elected president in Georgia, a position he will hold for five years.

The presence of the majority of the full composition of the electoral college – at least 151 members – was sufficient to conduct indirect elections of the president.

The vote of 2/3 of the full composition of the collegium – at least 200 members – is enough to elect a president.

The collegium includes 150 members of the parliament, all members of the highest representative body of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara – a total of 21 deputies, all 20 members of the highest representative body of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and 109 members from the city councils.

The Chairman of the Central Election Commission said 225 members participated in the vote, with 1 ballot being invalid.

Kavelashvili received 224 votes in his favor. His candidacy was not supported by Ada Marshania, a member of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia, who stated that she did not approve of Kavelashvili’s candidacy.

The procedure took place in the Parliament’s plenary session hall.

The Chairman of the CEC handed over the final protocol to the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, and declared the election process complete.

Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses to make it more repressive

This weekend, the Georgian Dream party adopted in a hurry amendments that will significantly increase sanctions for violations that the police usually use against demonstrators.

The new regulations provide for:

• Increasing the fine for obstructing traffic from 1,000 to 2,000 GEL, and suspension of driving privileges for 1 year;
• Increasing the fine for damaging the appearance of the city from 50 to 1,000 GEL and 2,000 GEL for repeat violations;
• Increasing the fine for violating the norms of assemblies and demonstrations from 500 to 5,000 GEL and a fine of 15,000 GEL or administrative imprisonment for organizers;
• Illegal wearing of an MIA uniform, punishable by a fine of 2,000 GEL and its confiscation;
• Failure of a parent or other legal representative of a child to raise and educate a minor or to fulfill other duties towards him/her. This has been added to the commission of an act provided for in Article 173 of the same Code (disobedience to a lawful request of a law enforcement officer).

The amendments also expand the grounds on which a person can be detained, and their items or documents seized.

The new government is obviously trying to intimidate the population by disproportionately increasing sanctions for actions related to gatherings, demonstrations and protests.