Georgia's president resigns on Nov 25

MOSCOW -- Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili announced Saturday that he would hand in his resignation Sunday to pave the way for the January 5 presidential election, news from Tbilisi reaching here said.

Saakashvili said at Saturday's cabinet meeting that he would kick off his election campaign on Sunday after his resignation. Parliament Speaker Nino Burzhanadze will act as the head of state.

Saakashvili was nominated as a candidate for the presidential election by his ruling United National Movement party on November 23.

On the same day, he called for support from voters at a meeting of his party attended by some 12,000 supporters at a stadium in Tbilisi, pledging to keep the stability of the society and take Georgia into NATO if he could keep in power.

Saakashvili was elected as president in January 2004 with a five-year tenure.

Under Georgia's law, an election has to be held between the 40th and the 45th days after the resignation of the president. Therefore, for the declared election to take place on schedule, the incumbent president has to resign before November 26.

The opposition staged protests in the capital Tbilisi in early November, urging the president to step down and to turn the country from a presidential system into parliamentarism.

The president declared on November 7 a 15-day state of emergency following a week of demonstrations and a police crackdown on anti-government protestors.

Saakashvili also antedated the presidential election from autumn to January 5, and said that the time for parliamentary election would be decided by referendum.

The state of emergency was lifted on November 16 ahead of the schedule.