Enlarge imageBy Elizabeth Piper
TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze says he has quit, bowing to opposition protesters who stormed parliament declaring a "velvet revolution" and demanding his resignation.
Speaking on television on Sunday, Shevardnadze said: "I am going home." When asked who would be the next president of Georgia, he said: "It is not my business."
His resignation followed talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, main opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili and fellow opposition activist Zurab Zhvania at the veteran Georgian president’s suburban residence.
A presidential plane was waiting on the tarmac at Tbilisi airport, local television said.
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters massed outside parliament exploded in rapturous celebrations at the news Shevardnadze had quit.
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Saakashvili had called on supporters to march on Shevardnadze’s residence to force him to resign after a three-week protest campaign against alleged fraud in a November 2 parliamentary election.
Shevardnadze had said earlier in the day he was ready to discuss key opposition demands, including an early presidential poll, but opponents said it was too late for talks.
His resignation occurred amid signs that some of the security forces were moving over to the opposition side.
Saakashvili, when asked whether he was ready for talks, said: "It’s too late."
It was opposition charges that Shevardnadze rigged the parliamentary election that set off the protests threatening to end 11 years of his increasingly unpopular rule.
Shevardnadze, who officially had 1-1/2 years left in office, had been widely blamed for the country’s grinding poverty.
On Saturday, protesters seized the parliament building. As with the "people power" protests that swept Eastern Europe in 1989, the military stood aside. Shevardnadze was forced to flee.
"Shevardnadze’s regime is bankrupt. His time has been exhausted," said Saakashvili, a 35-year-old U.S.-trained lawyer groomed by Shevardnadze, 75.
Shevardnadze looked exhausted and nervous when he faced the cameras on Sunday to meet Ivanov. The president’s own inner circle looked divided.
A group of up to 200 men and women, saying they were members of the national guard, joined the opposition supporters.
