The crisis in Georgia is deepening after the former football player Mikhail Kavelashvili was appointed as the president

The former Manchester City footballer has been appointed president by Georgia’s controversial parliament after 17 days of pro-European protests swept through the country’s towns and cities.

Mikhail Kavelashvili, now 53, is a former deputy from the increasingly authoritarian ruling Georgian Dream party and was the only candidate for the position.

On Saturday, 224 out of 225 members of the electoral college of Georgia voted for him.

The four main opposition groups rejected Kavelashvili and boycotted parliament, insisting the October election was rigged.

Large crowds of protesters, braving freezing temperatures, gathered outside parliament from early Saturday morning ahead of the vote.

Georgia’s pro-Western president, Salome Zurabishvili, who is stepping down, denounced Kavelashvili’s election as a travesty, insisting that it contained Georgia’s only remaining legitimate institution.

Prime Minister Iraklii Kabakhidze accused the president of trying to harm Georgia’s interests, stressing that she will have to resign after the end of her mandate on December 29.

“We have very strong state institutions, so of course it will not be difficult for us to bring the situation under full control,” he was quoted as saying on Friday.

Party colleague Nino Tsilasani told reporters that in the eyes of the public, Zurabishvili is no longer the president.

Protests against the “Georgian Dream” began immediately after the October elections, but flared up on November 28 when the government announced it was suspending EU accession talks until 2028.

The vast majority of Georgians support the country’s path to the European Union, and this is part of the constitution.

Every night, the main boulevard outside the parliament is filled with demonstrators carrying EU flags demanding new elections.

Saturday’s vote in parliament is expected to take several hours and spark a surge of anti-government protests. It will involve a direct vote by a 300-member electoral college made up of deputies and local officials loyal to the Georgian Dream from across the country.

Pop-up protests involving IT professionals, public sector workers, creative industry professionals, actors and lawyers engulfed the capital Tbilisi on Friday ahead of the vote.

“We stand here to once and for all create a rule of law, to respect the provisions of the constitution and human rights,” said 47-year-old lawyer Davit Kikaleishvili.

Kavelashvili is the founder of the People’s Power party, known as the main exponent of anti-Western propaganda in Georgia.

He accused the opposition parties of acting as a “fifth column” directed from abroad, and called President Zurabishvili “the main agent”.

Kavelashvili entered politics after he was rejected from applicants for the position of head of the Georgian Football Federation due to lack of qualifications.

Although his party ran alongside “Georgian Dream” in the October elections, it has now decided to act as a “healthy opposition” in parliament to replace the “so-called radical opposition funded by foreign powers”.

People’s Power MP Guram Macharashvili, who announced his faction’s exit from the ruling parliamentary majority on December 13, told the BBC that what is happening in the country is an “artificially created crisis characterized by the influence of foreign powers.”

Macharashvili and Kavelashvili are the authors of the controversial Georgian law on “foreign agents”, which the country’s opposition views as Russian-style legislation.

When asked about a “healthy opposition,” Macharashvili said: “Opposition does not necessarily mean opposition on all issues, it does not mean only cooperation with foreigners. This means competing with the ruling party to make the best proposals about what is best for the future of Georgia.”

“Georgian Dream”, founded by the billionaire businessman and former prime minister of Georgia, Bidin Ivanishvili, is accused of returning the country to Russia’s sphere of influence.

Both the EU and the US have condemned the government for rolling back from democracy, and more than 460 people have been detained across Georgia in the past two weeks, according to Transparency International.

More than 300 people were ill-treated or tortured, including dozens of Georgian media representatives. Last weekend, an attack by thugs on a TV reporter and a cameraman was filmed.

The The EU condemned “brutal, unlawful police force” and foreign ministers are to consider action against the government when they meet on Monday.

The The US State Department has already imposed visa restrictions on Georgian officials, including government ministers and the police.

Protesters called on the international community to impose sanctions against top government officials, as well as Bidina Ivanishvili, the most influential person in Georgia.

Pro-government groups also conducted a campaign of harassment of civil society activists, beating them outside their homes and making arbitrary arrests.

“There is systematic torture, inhumane and humiliating treatment of citizens,” said former human rights activist Nino Lamiaria.

Theatergoers who joined Friday’s protests chanted, “Police everywhere, justice nowhere.”

At one point, two men climbed onto a construction crane as protesters marched down the avenue. The pair waved a Georgian flag as the crowd applauded below.