Outgoing Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili refused to resign, while her successor, Mikheil Kavelashvili, was sworn in.

Thousands of Georgians demonstrated in the capital, Tbilisi, with the inauguration of a new president allied with the ruling Georgian Dream party.

Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former footballer, was sworn in during a critical political period for the country after the government suspended its application to join the European Union.

The Georgian Dream party won the parliamentary elections in October, but the victory was marred by allegations of fraud that have since sparked numerous street protests.

Outgoing President Salome Zurabishvili refused to step down on Sunday, saying she was the “only legitimate president.”

Addressing the crowds gathered outside, Zurabishvili said she would leave the presidential palace but described her successor as illegitimate.

“This building was only a symbol as long as a legitimate president sat here,” she said.

A few minutes’ walk away, Kavelashvili was sworn in in a closed ceremony in Parliament, where he was accompanied by his family. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze also attended the opening ceremony.

Speaking after taking the oath, Kavelashvili praised Georgian “traditions, values, national identity, sanctity of family and faith.”

“Our history clearly shows that after countless struggles to defend our homeland and traditions, peace has always been one of the main goals and values ​​of the Georgian people,” he said.

Georgia’s four main opposition groups rejected Kavelashvili’s decision and boycotted parliament.

Kavilashvili is a former lawmaker from the Georgian Dream party and was the only candidate for the position. Zurabishvili had previously denounced his election as a farce.

The Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian in recent years, passing Russian-style laws targeting media outlets, non-governmental groups that receive foreign funding, and the LGBT community.

It has refused to join Western sanctions imposed on Russia after the massive invasion of Ukraine, and has described the West as a “global war party,” making a mockery of its stated goal of joining the European Union and NATO.

An overwhelming majority of Georgians support the country’s path toward joining the European Union, which is part of the constitution.

But in November, the country’s ruling party said the government would not pursue EU accession talks until 2028.

This announcement sparked days of protests, and riot police used tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators, who responded by throwing fireworks and stones.

On Saturday, demonstrators waving Georgian and European Union flags gathered again before the inauguration ceremony, forming a human chain that stretched kilometers.

“I’m in the street with my whole family trying to somehow extricate this small country from the clutches of the Russian Empire,” one protester told the Associated Press.

United States this week Penalties imposed About the former Prime Minister of Georgia and billionaire founder of the Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Georgia is a parliamentary democracy where the president is the head of state, and the prime minister is the speaker of parliament.

When Zurabishvili became president in 2018, she was endorsed by the Georgian Dream party, but she has since condemned their controversial election victory in late October as a “Russian special operation” and has supported nightly pro-EU protests outside parliament.

Additional reporting by Nino Shunia in Tbilisi.