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Georgia's new president promises to focus on uniting society

"Every citizen of Georgia is dear to me, regardless of their views or political affiliation. I will be everyone’s president, of my supporters and opponents. My future efforts will be aimed at consolidating and uniting society," Kavelashvili stated

TBILISI, December 29. /TASS/. Georgia's new President Mikhail Kavelashvili said at his inauguration ceremony on December 29 that he would focus on consolidating and uniting the Georgian people.

"Every citizen of Georgia is dear to me, regardless of their views or political affiliation. I will be everyone’s president, of my supporters and opponents. My future efforts will be aimed at consolidating and uniting society," Kavelashvili stated.

The Georgian people should come together for "their homeland, values and rules based on mutual respect," the new Georgian leader emphasized. It was the defense of values and the struggle for "the very idea of Georgia" that brought the country its freedom, he said. Namely, people have argued for Georgia's history, culture, traditions, national identity and faith, he specified.

On Sunday, Georgia's sixth president Mikhail Kavelashvili was inaugurated in the country's parliament. He was elected for a five-year term on December 14. For the first time the country’s new president was chosen by 300 electors and not through a popular vote. Meanwhile, Kavelashvili's predecessor President Salome Zourabichvili refused to recognize the outcome of the October 26 parliamentary election and insisted that his election was illegitimate. In parallel with the inauguration, she addressed her supporters in the courtyard of the presidential residence and then left the building. Earlier, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze had repeatedly warned Zourabichvil that if she refused to leave the presidential palace after Kavelashvili's inauguration, she would be investigated for unlawful seizure of a state institution.