Spain's ex-king Juan Carlos heads for exile under corruption cloud

Yahoo – AFP, August 3, 2020

Spain's former king Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 (AFP Photo/JAIME REINA)

Madrid (AFP) - Spain's former king Juan Carlos, who is facing investigation at home and abroad for corruption, announced Monday that he plans to go into exile.

The 82-year-old revealed he would leave the country in a letter to his son, the current King Felipe VI who accepted his decision, the royal palace said in a statement.

"Guided by the conviction to best serve the people of Spain, its institutions, and you as king, I inform you of my decision at this time to go into exile outside Spain," Juan Carlos wrote.

"It's a decision I take with deep anguish, but great peace of mind," he said.

Probes are under way in Switzerland and Spain where media regularly publish details of the murky management of funds allegedly paid to the former head of state by Saudi Arabia.

Spain's Supreme Court announced in June an investigation to determine the legal responsibility of the ex-monarch -- but because of the immunity he holds only for acts committed after his abdication.

The suspicions focus on $100 million (85 million euros) alleged to have been paid secretly into a Swiss bank account in 2008.

Juan Carlos ascended the throne in 1975 on the death of the fascist dictator Francisco Franco and ruled for 38 years before abdicating in favour of his son Felipe VI in June 2014.

He was a popular figure for decades, playing a key role in the democratic transition from the Franco dictatorship which ruled Spain from 1939-1975.

But an inquiry opened in Spain in September 2018 following the publication of records attributed to German businesswoman Corinna Larsen, allegedly a one-time mistress of Juan Carlos.

She claimed he had received a commission when a consortium of Spanish companies were awarded a high-speed railway contract to link the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Larsen told Swiss investigators he had transferred her nearly 65 million euros in the Bahamas, "not to get rid of the money" but "out of gratitude and out of love", according to El Pais daily.

Swiss media reported last March that Juan Carlos was paid 100 million dollars into a Panamanian foundation's Swiss bank account by then Saudi king Abdullah in 2008.

The same month The Daily Telegraph in Britain reported that Felipe VI was also a beneficiary of the foundation.

The king withdrew from his father an annual royal allowance of nearly 200,000 euros and renounced his inheritance "to preserve the exemplariness of the crown".

Online outlet El Espanol reported that Swiss lawyer Dante Canonica told the Geneva public prosecutor's office he had been instructed to "create a structure" to hide the funds paid to Juan Carlos.

Spanish king distances himself from scandal-hit father

Yahoo – AFP, March 15, 2020

Juan Carlos handed over power to his son, Felipe in 2014 (AFP Photo/Juanjo Martín)

Madrid (AFP) - King Felipe VI of Spain moved Sunday to distance himself from his scandal-hit father, stripping him of his palace allowance and renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

A statement from the palace announced that he had stripped the former king Juan Carlos, of his allowance and was himself renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

The announcement came after media reports that Juan Carlos had received 100 million dollars (90 million euros) from Saudi Arabia via an offshore account -- and that King Felipe himself was also a beneficiary.

The money was lodged in a Swiss bank account in the name of a Panamanian foundation.

In the palace statement, the reigning king said that in April he had made it clear to a notary that he would accept no money from the foundation in question.

He also that he had absolutely no knowledge of having been named as a beneficiary to another foundation, which according to press reports paid millions of euros towards his father's flights in private jets.

On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament decided against launching an investigation into suspected money laundering by the former king Juan Carlos.

Reported Saudi payments to ex-king

Spain's hard-left Podemos party had called for it after reports earlier this month that in 2008 Juan Carlos received $100 million from Saudi king Abdallah via the Swiss account of an entity listed in Panama.

The Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve added that in 2012, $65 million of that sum was given by the king to his former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Then a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph said that 52-year-old King Felipe was also a beneficiary of the fund, which it said had been set up when Juan Carlos was still on the throne.

Juan Carlos, now 82, came to the throne after the death of the military dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and is widely respected for having favoured a transition to democracy.

But he lost his immunity from prosecution after handing power to his son, Felipe, in June 2014 following a 39-year reign.

He resigned from public life last year after a series of scandals about his private life.

In 2012, he outraged Spaniards by going elephant hunting in Botswana at the height of the country's recession.

Spanish reports say Juan Carlos has until now received an annual allowance from the state of more than 194,000 euros.

Switzerland votes for law against homophobia

Yahoo – AFP, Dario THUBURN, February 9, 2020

Off-colour jokes are still OK (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Geneva (AFP) - Switzerland on Sunday voted strongly in favour of a new law against homophobia in a referendum in the face of strong opposition from the populist rightwing Swiss People's Party (SVP).

Final results showed 63 percent voted in favour of widening existing laws against discrimination on ethnic or religious grounds to include sexual orientation.

"This is a historic day," Mathias Reynard, a lawmaker from the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland who initiated the reform, told Swiss channel RTS 1.

"It gives a signal which is magnificent for everyone and for anyone who has been a victim of discrimination," he said.

With results in from all of Switzerland's cantons, the figures showed that the highest approval rate was in Geneva with 76 percent, while the rural cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Schwyz and Uri voted against.

The change was passed by the Swiss parliament in 2018 but critics, who believe it will end up censoring free speech, forced a referendum on the issue.

'Christian values'

Eric Bertinat, an opposition SVP local lawmaker in Geneva, told AFP before the vote that he believed the law was "part of an LGBT plan to slowly move towards same-sex marriage and medically assisted reproduction" for gay couples.

Hans Moser, head of the small Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU) party, told the ATS news agency: "We will continue to represent Christian values".

All of Switzerland's major parties except the SVP, the biggest political force in parliament, support the law.

Switzerland is one of the last countries in western Europe without specific laws against homophobia.

Rights campaigner Jean-Pierre Sigrist, founder of an association of gay teachers, said before the referendum that the new law might have stopped him getting beaten up outside a bar in Geneva four decades ago.

"And maybe I would not have been laughed at when I went to the police," the 71-year-old told AFP, adding that he hoped the reform would help to counter a resurgence of intolerance against gay people.

Sigrist said he supported freedom of expression, "but not the freedom to say anything at all".

'No to Special Rights!'

Under the new law, homophobic comments made in a family setting or among friends would not be criminalised.

But publicly denigrating or discriminating against someone for being gay or inciting hatred against that person in text, speech, images or gestures, would be banned.

The government has said it will still be possible to have opinionated debates on issues such as same-sex marriage, and the new law does not ban jokes -- however off-colour.

"Incitement to hatred needs to reach a certain level of intensity in order to be considered criminal in Switzerland," Alexandre Curchod, a media lawyer, told AFP.

But he admitted that there could be exceptions "if it can be shown that, under the cover of artistic production or joking, someone is in fact engaging in incitement".

Gay rights campaigners were divided over the legislation.

A group called "No to Special Rights!" is opposed, arguing that the gay community does not need special protection.

Swiss women strike for equal pay again, three decades on

Yahoo – AFP, Agnès PEDRERO, June 4, 2019

The organisers are calling on women to stop work whether they have paid 

employment or do housework at home (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Geneva (AFP) - Nearly 30 years after staging a first nationwide strike for equal pay, women across Switzerland say they are preparing fresh action to push for wage parity next week.

On June 14, 1991 -- 10 years after equality between the sexes was enshrined in the Swiss constitution -- half a million women walked out of their workplaces or homes to protest persistent inequalities.

Three decades on, however, unions and rights groups say things have barely improved.

They are calling on Swiss women to join a fresh strike, again on June 14, to demand "more time, more money, more respect".

Women in Switzerland on average still make 20 percent less than men.

And for men and women with equal qualifications, the wage gap remains nearly eight percent, according to the national statistics office.

"Even if you take into account all of the regular excuses and you only compare women and men in the exact same position with the same professional experience, the fact remains that a woman in Switzerland is cheated out of 300,000 Swiss francs ($313,000, 266,000 euros) over the course of her career, just because she is a woman," Switzerland's largest union UNIA said in a statement last year.

Strikers will also be demanding zero tolerance for violence against women and more respect and better pay for women's work, including through the introduction of a minimum national salary.

The idea of another nationwide women's strike was born out of frustration at a bid to change the law to impose more oversight over salary distribution, which passed through the Swiss parliament last year

The final text only applied to companies with more than 100 employees -- affecting fewer than one percent of employers -- and failed to include sanctions for those that allow persistent gender pay gaps.

Swiss women are angry that, decades after the constitutional recognition of the 

equality of women, they are still not getting paid as much as men (AFP Photo/

Fabrice COFFRINI)

'Women work for free'

Organisers have called upon women to snub their jobs, and also housework, for the entire day to help raise awareness about the vital contribution women make across society.

"Really, the objective is to block the country with a feminist strike, a women's strike," activist Marie Metrailler told AFP.

For those women unable to take a full day, the organisers urge them to at least pack their things and go by 3:24 pm -- in recognition of the male-female pay disparity.

"After that, women work for free," said Anne Fritz, the main organiser of the strike and a representative of USS, an umbrella organisation that groups 16 Swiss unions.

Gaining recognition of women's rights has been a drawn-out process in Switzerland.

It was one of the last countries in Europe to grant women the right to vote, in 1971 -- and in the conservative Appenzell region women only won that right in 1991.

And while Switzerland did enshrine gender equality into its constitution in 1981, it took another 15 years before the law took effect.

"In 1991, we determined that... nothing was moving. So we went on strike," Geneva author Huguette Junod told AFP.

Around 500,000 women -- a high number in a country that at the time counted fewer than 3.5 million female inhabitants -- marched and organised giant picnics in the streets. Some women hung brooms from their balconies.

The large turnout was all the more remarkable given that work stoppages have been extremely rare in Switzerland since employers and unions signed the "Peace at Work" convention in 1937. It states that differences should be worked out through negotiation rather than strikes.

Junod, 76, recalls that many women were blocked from participating in 1991.

But, she said, "those who were not permitted to strike wore a fuchsia-coloured armband ... and took a longer break".

Women demonstrated on May 14 in Lausanne, a month ahead of the nationwide
action to press for equal pay (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

'Illegal'

Organisers are bracing for a repeat of that situation, for while the strike has some support, the employers' organisation flatly opposes it.

"This strike is illegal," Marco Taddei, one of the organisation's representatives, told AFP.

He stressed that the demands put forward "do not solely target working conditions", and that the constitution "stipulates that a strike can only be used as a last resort."

The unions disagree.

"What is illegal is wage discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace," Fritz said.

Recognising that many women will not be able to get away from work, organisers have declared purple the colour to wear this time to show support for the strikers.

Over the past three decades, womens' rights advocates in Switzerland have made some gains. Abortion was legalised in 2002, and 2005 saw the introduction of 14 weeks of paid maternity leave.

But Switzerland still offers no paternity leave, and limited access to over-priced daycare is seen as a major hindrance to women's full participation in the world of work.

Switzerland "is very conservative on the question of women's rights," Eleonore Lepinard, a sociologist and associate professor of gender studies at Lausanne University, told AFP.

The authorities have yet to commit to collective policies on day-care and elderly care, which would make it easier for women to enter, remain and thrive in the workforce.

Women's forced absence from the workforce for years at a time "benefits men on the employment market and in terms of salaries", Lepinard said.

She hailed women's growing ability to speak up and make their grievances known.

The question, she said, is: "Do the politicians know how to listen?"

Related Article:

Dutch women football players to earn the same as men in 2023

Pompeo attends secretive global meet in Switzerland

Yahoo – AFP, Francesco FONTEMAGGI, June 1, 2019

Pompeo told journalists he was staying so long in Switzerland as he is a "big
cheese and chocolate fan" (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Bern (Switzerland) (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will take part Saturday in a secretive meeting in Switzerland of global power brokers discreetly discussing issues like Brexit and the future of capitalism.

The State Department confirmed Saturday that Pompeo, who is on a four-nation tour of Europe, would take part in the four-day Bilderberg meeting, which kicked off on Thursday in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux.

His participation had not been previously mentioned in the official agenda and he did not figure on the list of some 130 elites from 23 countries participating in the event.

Already on the list is US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner, who might use the forum to try to drum up support for his yet to be unveiled Middle East peace plan.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and elder statesman Henry Kissinger also figure on the list of participants, as do Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen.

The group, which has met every year since 1954 and was created as a forum for fostering dialogue between Europe and North America, is this year discussing a range of topics such as climate change, the future of capitalism, the ethics of Artificial Intelligence, China, Russia and Brexit, the organisers said.

The Trump administration has taken strong and controversial stances on a number of the topics on the agenda, including swelling tensions with Beijing, complex relations with Moscow and a more than sceptical attitude to calls to fight climate change.

The luxury hotel where the talks are taking place has placed high bushes all around 

its perimeters to keep the press at bay (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Pompeo himself recently hailed that climate change was helping open new sea routes in the usually frozen Arctic.

The luxury hotel where the talks are taking place has placed high bushes all around its perimeters to keep the press at bay.

'Cheese and chocolate fan'

The participants are meanwhile held to the so-called Chatham House Rule, meaning that participants are free to use the information received, but may not reveal the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker.

The secretive nature of the group has given birth to conspiracy theories. Some have warned, for example, that Bilderberg is a group of rich and powerful kingmakers seeking to impose a one world government.

Pompeo arrived in Switzerland on Friday on the second leg of his European tour, following a stop in Berlin and before travelling on to The Hague and London.

On Saturday morning, he and his wife Susan had a guided tour of Bern's Old Town, and on Sunday he is due to meet with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis.

Asked why he chose to stay for so long in Switzerland -- from Friday afternoon through Monday morning, Pompeo told a group of journalists travelling with him that he is a "big cheese and chocolate fan".

Swiss vote to tighten gun laws, safeguard EU relations

Yahoo – AFP, Nina LARSON, May 19, 2019

Final results showed that Swiss voters overwhelmingly supported reforming their gun
laws, with 63.7 percent casting their ballot in favour (AFP Photo/STEFAN WERMUTH)

Geneva (AFP) - The Swiss voted Sunday to toughen their gun laws and bring them in line with EU legislation, heeding warnings that rejecting the change could have threatened relations with the bloc.

Final results showed that voters overwhelmingly supported reforming Swiss gun laws, with a full 63.7 percent casting their ballot in favour.

A majority of voters in all but one of Switzerland's 26 cantons backed the reform, with the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in southern Switzerland the only outlier.

A demand from the neighbouring European Union that the Swiss toughen their gun laws prompted a rare national debate over firearm ownership in the wealthy Alpine nation, which has a deeply-rooted gun culture.

While the government cautioned that the new legislation was crucial to the non-EU country maintaining its treaties with the bloc, the proposal sparked a fierce pushback from the gun lobby and shooting enthusiasts, who gathered enough signatures to trigger a vote under Switzerland's famous direct democratic system.

Brussels changed its own weapons laws two years ago following a wave of deadly terrorist attacks across Europe, slapping bans on certain types of semi-automatic firearms.

While not an EU member, Switzerland is bound to the bloc through an array of intricately connected bilateral agreements.

Bern had cautioned that a "No" vote would lead to Switzerland's exclusion from the visa-free Schengen travel region and also the Dublin accords regulating Europe's asylum-seeking process.

Shooting enthusiasts have gathered enough support to trigger a vote on
new gun laws under Switzerland's famous direct democratic system
(AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

This would have far-reaching consequences for security, asylum and even tourism, and would cost the country "several billion Swiss francs each year," it said.

Liberties 'eroded'

The shooting enthusiasts behind Sunday's referendum had insisted the government warnings were "exaggerated".

The campaign charged that law change amounts to an "EU dictate" that reins in Swiss sovereignty and would "erase the right to own weapons" in Switzerland.

The ProTell gun lobby voiced concern at the consequences of Sunday's referendum, in which some 43 percent of eligible voters participated.

"Today, our liberties have been eroded," ProTell President Jean-Luc Addor told RTS, also insisting that the reform would "obviously not avoid a single terrorist attack".

The populist, rightwing Swiss People's Party (SVP) -- the only party to oppose the reform -- meanwhile cautioned that bowing to an "EU dictate" would have consequences.

"We acknowledge that there is a certain need to remain within Schengen and Dublin, but we cannot accept just anything to do so," SVP vice president Celine Amaudru told the ATS news agency, cautioning that the EU going forward "will be able to dictate what it wants" by playing to Swiss fears of being left out.

It is difficult to know exactly how many firearms are in circulation in Switzerland, since guns are registered regionally and there is no national registry.

The strong gun culture in Switzerland is partially tied to its tradition of national defence 

service, as most Swiss men undergo obligatory military service (AFP Photo/STEFAN 

WERMUTH)

'Exceptional authorisation'

But according to a 2017 report by the Small Arms Survey, the country boasts the world's 16th highest rate of gun ownership, with some 2.3 million firearms in civilian hands -- nearly three for every 10 inhabitants.

The strong gun culture in Switzerland is partially tied to its tradition of national defence service, as most Swiss men undergo obligatory military service between the ages of 18 and 30. They are allowed to keep their assigned weapon when they are done.

Under the new gun law, which has already been approved by legislators, semi-automatic weapons with high-capacity magazines will be listed as "banned".

Collectors and sports shooters could still purchase such weapons, but would need to jump through more hoops to obtain an "exceptional authorisation".

Another issue put to a national referendum Sunday -- a government proposal to overhaul the country's corporate tax system and pump more cash into its pension system -- also won overwhelming support.

A full 66.4 percent of voters, and all 26 cantons, supported that reform, according to the final results.

'Nearly a third' of British billionaires moved to tax havens

Yahoo – AFP, Dmitry ZAKS, March 7, 2019

It is reported that 10 British billionaires and 408 UK business owners live in
Monaco, according to The Sunday Times (AFP Photo/VALERY HACHE)

London (AFP) - Nearly a third of Britain's billionaires have either moved or are relocating to tax havens, where some have broken UK law by bankrolling political parties, a major investigation said on Thursday.

The Times newspaper published a series of reports detailing allegations of Britain's ultra-rich hiding billions of pounds from the UK Treasury in taxes over the past decade.

The report came out days after the government drew public fury for delaying a vote on proposed legislation aimed at ending secret company ownership in offshore territories.

"We must stop tax evasion so that the wealthiest pay their fair share," Margaret Hodge, a leading lawmaker from the main opposition Labour Party who co-sponsored the tax haven measure, tweeted in response to The Times reports.

"Public registers and more transparency are the next big step for fairer tax."

Prime Minister Theresa May's government did not immediately respond to the investigation.

Knights and dames

The Times said that 28 out of the 93 British billionaires it found through public records "have moved to tax havens or are in the process of relocating".

It said almost half of the 28 have left in the past decade.

The Times said those in the process of moving included Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's richest man and a major Brexit supporter. His chemicals firm is valued at £35 billion ($46 billion).

The Times said those in the process of moving included Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's
richest man and a major Brexit supporter (AFP Photo/JUSTIN TALLIS)

The Sunday Times reported last month that Ratcliffe's move to Monaco, where it said 10 British billionaires and 408 UK business owners live, could cost the Treasury up to £4 billion.

Asked about his rumoured move last October, Ratcliffe told Britain's Press Association news agency that he was staying in Britain.

The Times said big business owners were trying to avoid paying Britain's relatively high 38.1 percent income tax on dividends -- the cash payments made by corporations to their shareholders.

It is effectively a profit tax, since business owners hold a large portion of their company's shares.

Tax-evading

Companies registered in offshore tax shelters such as the Channel Islands or countries like Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates pay little to no tax.

The Times said the exodus was spurred by a hike in income tax rates for top earners to 50 percent in 2010, which was reduced to 45 percent in 2013.

New rules from 2013 making a switch in tax residency easier also contributed, The Times said.

But some of its most damning allegations concerned political contributions.

The Times said successive UK governments have failed to properly enact a 2009 law banning large donations from anyone residing abroad for tax purposes.

It said tax-evading business owners and their companies have made political contributions worth £5.5 million over the past decade.

Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives accepted £1 million from these entities in the months leading up to the 2017 snap general election, The Times said.

It added that several of these billionaires have also received honorary titles such as baron, knight and dame.

Brexit is a blue fluffy monster, according to the Dutch

DutchNews, February 14, 2019

Photo: Rijksoverheid.nl

Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok launched a new campaign urging Dutch businesses to get ready for Brexit next month – in which the starring role is given to a hairy blue monster. 

‘Have you checked the consequences Brexit will have for you or your company,’ Blok says on Twitter, while posing next to an office desk. ‘Make sure Brexit does not get in your way.’ 

Heb jij al gecheckt welke gevolgen Brexit voor jou of je bedrijf heeft? Doe de Brexit Impact Scan op https://t.co/eytAlAwphK of kijk op https://t.co/U64nYectmE. Zorg dat Brexit jou niet in de weg zit....of ligt. pic.twitter.com/LWKOLnLPQl

— Stef Blok (@ministerBlok) February 14, 2019

Commenters have asked if Sesame Street character Pino has lost his way or if leading Brexiteer Boris Johnson has had a blue rinse. Others have dismissed the campaign as infantile and embarrassing. 

Website 

The aim of the campaign is to encourage companies to visit the foreign ministry checklist where companies can find out more of the likely impact of Brexit on their operations. 

At the beginning of this month, the Dutch customs office wrote to 72,277 Dutch firms which do business with the UK warning them to make sure they are properly prepared for Brexit. 

The service’s general director Nanette van Schelven told the Financieele Dagblad in an interview it is ‘high time for action’ because many companies are not ready to deal with the consequences. 

The fluffy monster campaign was launched a day after Dutch prime minister warned that a no-deal Brexit will have a ‘devasting’ impact on Britain.

Mark Rutte, with Swiss president Ueli Maurer. Photo: Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP/HH

Related Article:

Dutch PM calls for a realistic, strong Europe, warns of Brexit ‘devastation’

Georgia's first female president sworn in

Yahoo – AFP, Vano SHLAMOV, December 16, 2018

Georgia's new and first female President Salome Zurabishvili was sworn in on
 Sunday (AFP Photo/IRAKLI GEDENIDZE)

Telavi (Georgia) (AFP) - Georgia on Sunday swore in its first female president, Salome Zurabishvili as opposition parties continue to denounce her election as fraudulent and demand snap parliamentary polls.

The inauguration paved the way for a new constitution to come into force, transforming the country into a parliamentary republic with a largely ceremonial president.

The event was held in the mediaeval town of Telavi in Georgia's eastern winemaking region of Kakheti.

French-born Zurabishvili, 66, took the oath of office in the courtyard of an 18th-century manor that belonged to Georgia's penultimate king Heraclius II.

"The goal of my presidency is to make Georgia's democratic development and its path towards Europe irreversible," she said in an inaugural speech.

"I will facilitate this process with the support of our strategic partner, the United States of America, and our European friends," she said.

Opposition parties have refused to recognise Zurabishvili's election last month and tried to hold a protest rally outside the royal residence.

But the plan was thwarted by police, who on Sunday morning blocked a kilometres-long opposition motorcade on a road leading from the capital Tbilisi to Telavi.

Pro-opposition Rustavi-2 TV channel reported that clashes briefly erupted between police officers and protesters as they tried to break through police ranks.

"Georgian Dream has taken away our constitution, our state institutions, our freedom of expression," defeated candidate Grigol Vashadze told journalists after a failed attempt to stage a protest in Telavi.

Police block a street during Georgia's new President Salome Zurabishvili's
inauguration ceremony in the eastern city of Telavi (AFP Photo/Vano Shlamov)

Election irregularities

Vashadze was the candidate of an 11-party opposition alliance led by exiled former president Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement.

Zurabishvili was backed in the election by the ruling Georgian Dream party of Georgia's ex-premier and billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man, stepped down as prime minister in 2013 after just a year in office but is still widely believed to be Georgia's de facto ruler. His critics accuse him of "state capture" as his loyalists hold key cabinet posts.

Former French diplomat Zurabishvili has said her election was a step forward for women and a move closer to Europe.

But opposition parties have refused to accept the result, pointing to instances of alleged vote-buying, multiple voting, voter intimidation, and ballot-stuffing in the November 28 election.

On December 2, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets in Tbilisi against the election result, demanding snap parliamentary polls.

Georgia's leading rights groups denounced the electoral irregularities, which the US State Department said were "not consistent with the country's commitment to fully fair and transparent elections."

Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that while the election was "competitive" and candidates campaigned freely, it was concerned over "the misuse of state resources" by the ruling party.

In what critics derided as "vote-buying" ahead of the election, Ivanishvili promised the government would drastically increase social spending and pledged to spend his own money to write off the bank loans of more than 600,000 people.

Georgia's new President Salome Zurabishvili said she would continue to promote 

the country's pro-US, pro-EU policies (AFP Photo/IRAKLI GEDENIDZE)

Daughter of refugees

Zurabishvili was born in France to a Georgian family who fled the Bolshevik regime to Paris in 1921.

She studied international relations at the prestigious Paris Institute of Political Sciences before a 30-year career as a French diplomat, with postings to the United Nations, Washington and Chad.

Her career in French diplomacy culminated in a posting to Tbilisi, where then-president Saakashvili appointed her as foreign minister.

But Zurabishvili quickly made enemies in the ranks of the parliamentary majority, with MPs and a number of senior diplomats publicly accusing her of arrogance.

She was sacked in 2005 after a year on the job, though thousands took to the streets of the capital to protest her dismissal.

She then joined the opposition as a member of parliament and became one of Saakashvili's fiercest critics.

In her book "A Woman for Two Countries", published in France after her firing, she wrote: "Now, I have to engage in a political battle, which has never attracted me, which I never practised, which is being imposed on me."

Zurabishvili will be Georgia's last directly elected president as the country transitions to a parliamentary form of governance following a controversial constitutional reform.

The Caucasus country's next president will be elected in 2024 by a 300-member electoral college.

Adopted in September 2017, the constitutional change was protested by all opposition parties which denounced it as favouring the ruling party.