Georgia's President Eduard Shevardnadze
The demonstrations continued despite warnings from Mr Shevardnadze that there was a risk of dragging the turbulent republic into civil war.
Thousands of protesters have been demonstrating round-the-clock for over a week in the capital, Tbilisi, over a parliamentary election which the opposition claims was rigged to rob them of victory.
Protestors have also appealed to government workers to come out on strike, and to ordinary citizens to stop paying their bills and taxes.
Meanwhile, Russia has said it might take part in mediation efforts to help defuse the crisis.
