Protests in Georgia continue unabated on eve of presidential election by college

As Georgia gears up for Saturday's presidential election, which is not a popular vote but one by electoral college, antigovernmental protests in the capital continue unabated into their third week.

Protesters have been demanding a new parliamentary election and chanting anti-Russian slogans, expressing their discontent with the government's recent stance on EU negotiations.

The protests began two weeks ago when Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Tbilisi would not begin negotiations to join the EU until 2028.

This delay has angered many citizens who are eager for closer ties with the West.

Additionally, the ruling Georgian Dream party faces accusations of being pro-Russian, largely due to its founder, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who amassed his fortune through business dealings in Russia.

This is the first time the president is elected by an electoral college rather than by public vote.

The electoral college is dominated by officials loyal to the ruling Georgian Dream party, and Mikheil Kavelashvili is the sole candidate.

Kavelashvili is a former professional footballer who played in a forward position at English Premiere League club Manchester City between 1995-1997 and then moved on to Grasshoppers Zürich and other Swiss clubs.

Anger and frustration versus fear of all-mighty neighbour

As a politician, he is know for his far-right stance and protesters have described Kavelashvili as a "puppet" of Ivanishvili who, in turn, has called him "the embodiment of a Georgian man". He has been a member of the Georgian parliament for Georgian Dream since 2016, co-founding its particularly right-wing and anti-Western faction "People's Power".

In Tbilisi, however, the mood is one of frustration and anger towards the ruling party's reluctance to align more closely with the West. By contrast, sentiments are markedly different in the Gori region, near the border with the Russian-occupied breakaway republic of South Ossetia.

Residents there, still haunted by memories of the 1991-1992 war and the 2008 Russian invasion, tend to support a more conciliatory approach towards Moscow, especially as Russian troops are pushing the physical border of South Ossetia more and more into the government-controlled territory of Georgia.