Former Manchester City footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili has been sworn in as the president of Georgia.
The outgoing pro-Western president Salome Zourabichvili has insisted she is still the legitimate officer holder and does not recognise her opponent’s appointment.
However, she said on Sunday morning that she will vacate her residence at the Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi.
It comes in the wake of contested general election results, which were mired in allegations of corruption and fraud.
“I will come out of here, come out to you and be with you,” Ms Zourabichvili told a crowd of supporters outside the palace.
“This presidential residence was a symbol as long as there was a president here who was legitimate. I bring legitimacy with me.”
The presidency is a largely ceremonial position.
Ms Zourabichvili also called Mr Kavelashvili’s inauguration a “parody”, as protesters gathered in front of the parliament building holding red cards.
Mr Kavelashvili, who was a striker for Manchester City between 1996 and 1997, is backed by Georgia’s ruling Dream Party.
He easily won the presidential vote in December, as Georgian Dream controls a 300-seat electoral college that replaced direct presidential elections in 2017.
Georgian Dream retained control of the country’s parliament in an election in October that the opposition alleges was rigged with Moscow’s help.
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The main pro-Western parties have boycotted the post-election parliamentary sessions and demanded a re-run of the ballot.
In his speech on Sunday, 53-year-old Mr Kavelashvili promised to be “everyone’s president, regardless of whether they like me or not”.
He called for the nation to unite behind him around “shared values, the principles of mutual respect, and the future we should build together”.
Mr Kavelashvili has strong anti-Western, often conspiratorial views.
He was one of the authors of a controversial law requiring organisations 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 organisations critical of the government.
Critics have accused Georgian Dream – established by shadowy billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia – of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow, accusations it has denied.
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The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
Its decision last month to suspend talks on their country’s bid to join the EU added to the opposition’s outrage and galvanized protests
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Georgian Dream has vowed to continue pushing towards accession to the European Union but also wants to “reset” ties with Russia.
Ms Zourabichvil was elected by popular vote with Georgian Dream’s support in 2018 but became sharply critical of the ruling party, accusing it of pro-Russia policies.
She has led opposition to a set of repressive laws introduced by the government and managed to unite a fractious opposition in its attempts to unseat the government in October’s election.
She told Sky News after the result: “We won the elections. The pro-European forces won the elections. The fact that they were stolen is a different story.”
