After winning through a run-off last month, French-born Salome Zurabishvili has been sworn in as president, making her Georgia’s first female president and fifth president overall as she replaces the outgoing President Giorgi Margvelashvili.

Zurabishvili recited her presidential oath in the historic castle of Telavi and is expected to hold the country’s highest seat for a six-year tenure.

While saying her oath, Zurabishvili promised to uphold and defend the Georgian constitution, its independence and unity while ensuring the prosperity of the country and provision of security for the people.

She also vowed to advance the development of the country’s economy and Euro-Atlantic integration.

“Georgia is facing a great challenge now – Abkhazia and South Ossetia are occupied by Russia. There is the occupation line inside the country where our citizens are being kidnapped. This is not acceptable for a sovereign state. We are not going to tolerate this,” she declared.

It is important to note that Zurabishvili’s ascension to power has not been an easy task, as opposition party supporters have alleged that the election was rigged.

During the inauguration ceremony, protetesters from the opposition party attempted to invade the city of Telavi, luckily they were stopped by the police. Alleging gross electoral violations during her election against the opposition candidate, Grigol Vashadze, they deemed the results illegitimate.

Zurabishvili was heavily supported by the ruling Georgian Dream Party, with observers for the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe, stating that the government was overly involved in the campaign and overall election process.

A new constitutional reform will ensure that the president after Zurabishvili, will be elected for a five year term but not by the people, by a special 300-member council starting from the year 2024.