TBILISI, Georgia — Activists in Georgia say they have collected over one million signatures on a petition calling for the immediate resignation of outgoing President Mikhail Saakashvili.
Saakashvili’s term is due to expire on Jan. 21 but
the country’s Constitution states that the presidential election can
only be held in October. Saakashvili won his second term in an early
election in 2007 and was sworn in in January 2008.
Groups calling
for the president’s ouster say they want to get Saakashvili to step down
on his own will before seeking his resignation in court.
Saakashvili’s
party lost to a party of tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili in a parliamentary
election last October. Ivanishvili, however, refrained from calling for
his rival’s immediate ouster.
