Georgian lawmakers will pick a new president on Dec. 14

TBILISI The Associated Press

Georgia’s parliament set a date Tuesday for national and local lawmakers to pick a new president, paving the way for the ruling Georgian Dream party to choose an ally following its victory in a controversial election.

The announcement comes just a month after Georgian Dream won an Oct. 26 general election that the opposition insists was rigged. Current president Salome Zourabichvili rejected the results. European election observers said the balloting took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.

Many Georgians viewed the election as a referendum on the country’s bid to join the European Union.

A 300-seat electoral college consisting of members of parliament, municipal councils and regional legislatures will elect a new president for the South Caucasus nation on Dec. 14. It’s a new procedure, which will be used for the first time since a 2017 constitutional reform eliminated direct elections for the presidency.

Georgian Dream has a majority in the electoral college and is expected to choose an ally to replace Zourabichvili.

The outgoing president was elected by popular vote in 2018, and her six-year term will end in December. The new president will be elected for five years.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely in June after parliament passed a law requiring organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government.