Sawt Falasteen - Georgia crisis deepens as govt set to install far-right president

The Black Sea nation has been in turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party claimed victory in contested October parliamentary elections. Its decision last month to delay EU accession talks ignited a fresh wave of mass rallies.

More unrest is expected on Saturday, when Georgian Dream is set to appoint far-right former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili as president in a disputed election process.

On Friday, demonstrations rocked the capital, Tbilisi, for the 16th consecutive day, as thousands of pro-EU protesters filled the streets, marching in a dozen different locations before gathering in the evening outside parliament.

Speaking to AFP at a rally, Dariko Gogol, 53, said Georgian Dream "rigged the election, and they are just dragging us towards Russia".

"We need new elections," she said, adding that current President Salome Zurabishvili "has to stay (as president) and somehow guide us in this really difficult situation".

- 'Unprecedented constitutional crisis' -

On Saturday, an electoral college controlled by Georgian Dream is expected to elect Kavelashvili as president in an indirect vote in parliament boycotted by the opposition.

Zurabishvili has refused to step down and is demanding new parliamentary elections, paving the way for a constitutional showdown.

"What will happen in parliament tomorrow is a parody -- it will be an event entirely devoid of legitimacy, unconstitutional and illegitimate," Zurabishvili told a press conference on Friday.

Opposition groups accuse Georgian Dream of rigging the parliamentary vote, democratic backsliding and moving Tbilisi closer to Russia -- all at the expensive of the Caucasus nation's constitutionally mandated bid to join the European Union.

Kavelashvili, 53 -- a sole candidate for the largely ceremonial post -- is known for his vehement anti-West diatribes and opposition to LGBTQ rights.

Georgian Dream scrapped direct presidential elections in 2017.

With Zurabishvili refusing to leave office, opposition lawmakers boycotting parliament, protests showing no signs of abating, and constitutional law experts saying the vote will be illegitimate, Kavelashvili will see his presidency undermined from the onset.

One author of Georgia's constitution, Vakhtang Khmaladze, has argued that all decisions by the new parliament are void, as it ratified the mandates of newly elected MPs in violation of the legal requirement to await the outcome of a court case filed by Zurabishvili contesting the legitimacy of the elections.

"Georgia is facing an unprecedented constitutional crisis," Khmaladze told AFP.

It remains unclear how the government will react to Zurabishvili's refusal to step down after her successor is inaugurated on December 29.

A former diplomat, Zurabishvili is a hugely popular figure among protesters who view her as a beacon of Georgia's European aspirations.

- Macron address -

Police have fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters, arresting more than 400. The country's rights ombudsman has accused security forces of "torturing" those detained.

Raids on the offices of opposition parties and arrests of their leaders followed.

As international condemnation of Georgia's police crackdown mounted, French President Emmanuel Macron released a video address to Georgians.

"Georgia's European dream must not be extinguished," he said. "We are by your side in supporting your European and democratic aspirations."

Earlier this week, Macron called Georgian Dream's founder Bidzina Ivanishvili -- the tycoon widely considered to be Georgia's real power broker.

His decision to call Ivanishvili -- rather than Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze -- is indicative of the West's hesitancy to recognise the legitimacy of Georgian Dream's new government.

Macron's message to Georgians came after Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Georgian officials overnight, barring visas for around 20 people accused of "undermining democracy in Georgia", including ministers and parliamentarians.

Amnesty International said Friday that protesters have faced "brutal dispersal tactics, arbitrary detention, and torture".

S.AbuJamous--SF-PST