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    Global Banking & Finance Review® is a leading financial portal and online magazine offering News, Analysis, Opinion, Reviews, Interviews & Videos from the world of Banking, Finance, Business, Trading, Technology, Investing, Brokerage, Foreign Exchange, Tax & Legal, Islamic Finance, Asset & Wealth Management.
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    Editorial & Advertiser disclosure

    Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

    Finance

    Posted By Global Banking and Finance Review

    Posted on December 14, 2024

    Featured image for article about Finance

    By Felix Light

    TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian lawmakers elected Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, as the country’s new president on Saturday, setting him up to replace a pro-Western incumbent amid major protests against the government over a halt to the country’s European Union accession talks last month.

    The ruling Georgian Dream party’s move to freeze the EU accession process until 2028, abruptly halting a long-standing national goal that is written into the country’s constitution, has provoked widespread anger in Georgia, where opinion polls show that seeking EU membership is overwhelmingly popular.

    Kavelashvili, a former professional soccer player, has strongly anti-Western, often conspiratorial views. In public speeches this year, he has repeatedly alleged that Western intelligence agencies are seeking to drive Georgia into war with Russia.

    Georgian presidents are picked by a college of electors composed of MPs and representatives of local government. Of 225 electors present, 224 voted for Kavelashvili, who was the only candidate nominated.

    All opposition parties have boycotted parliament since an October election in which official results gave the ruling Georgian Dream party almost 54% of the vote, but which the opposition say was fraudulent.

    Hundreds of protesters gathered in light snowfall outside parliament ahead of the presidential vote. Some played soccer in the street outside and waved red cards at the parliament building, a mocking reference to Kavelashvili’s athletic career.

    Kavelashvili was nominated for the mostly ceremonial presidency last month by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire ex-prime minister who is widely seen as the country’s paramount leader.

    Kavelashvili is a leader of People’s Power, an anti-Western splinter group of the ruling party, and was a co-author of a law on “foreign agents” that requires organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as agents of foreign influence, and imposes heavy fines for violations.

    Outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party, has positioned herself as a leader of the protest movement and has said she will remain president after her term ends. She considers parliament illegitimate as a result of alleged fraud in the October election.

    Opposition parties have said they will continue to regard Zourabichvili as the legitimate president, even after Kavelashvili is inaugurated on Dec. 29.

    SOURING RELATIONS WITH WEST

    Georgia has been seen for decades as one of the most pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union’s successor states, but relations with the West have soured this year, with Georgian Dream forcing through laws on foreign agents and LGBT rights that critics say are Russian-inspired and draconian.

    Western countries have raised the alarm at Georgia’s apparent foreign policy pivot and authoritarian drift, with the EU threatening sanctions over a crackdown on protests. In a video address to Georgians published on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “Georgia’s European dream must not be extinguished”.

    Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Georgian Dream has moved to improve ties with Russia, which ruled Georgia for 200 years until 1991, continues to back two breakaway Georgian regions, and defeated Georgia in a five-day war in 2008.

    Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied outside parliament nightly for more than two weeks. Some have hurled fireworks at police, who have used water cannon, tear gas and ballot attacks to break up demonstrations.

    The government has repeatedly said the protests represent an attempt to stage a pro-EU revolution and a violent seizure of power.

    Police have detained hundreds of protesters. Georgia's interior ministry has said that more than 150 officers have been injured during the protests.

    On Friday, parliament approved sweeping new restrictions on protests, hiking fines for participants and organisers, and banning from gatherings face coverings, fireworks and lasers used to dazzle police officers.

    (Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Frances Kerry)

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