Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili speaks during a meeting in his office in Tbilisi November 5, 2007. Four opposition activists declared a hunger strike on Monday to try to force Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to resign, as crowds chanting for his ouster formed a human chain around parliament. [Photo: Reuters]

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili resigned on Sunday, Itar-Tass cited Georgian parliament leaders as saying.

Saakashvili has informed the parliament about his resignation and Parliament Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze will perform presidential duties till the antedated presidential elections slated for Jan. 5 next year.

Saakashvili, who was elected as president in January 2004 with a five-year tenure, said at Saturday's cabinet meeting that he would kick off his election campaign on Sunday after his resignation.

Saakashvili was nominated as a candidate for the presidential elections by his ruling United National Movement party on Nov. 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.

Under Georgia's law, an election must 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 Nov. 26.

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

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

He also antedated the presidential elections from autumn to Jan. 5, 2008, and said that the time for parliamentary election would be decided by referendum.

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