Tbilisi, Nov 22: Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze declared a state of emergency today after opposition supporters overran parliament. He had earlier vowed not to resign as he was hustled out of the Parliament building after opposition supporters broke in and seized the speaker`s podium.
"I will not resign. I will resign when the presidential term expires, according to the constitution,`` Shevardnadze said before he was driven away from the Parliament, accompanied by armed guards in riot gear.
Shevardnadze was whisked away after opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili led hundreds of his supporters into the chamber. They overturned desks and chairs and leapt onto the podium just after the president officially convened the body. It was not immediately clear where he was taken.
“The velvet revolution has taken place in Georgia,`` Saakashvili said, as the hall applauded him. “We are against violence.``
This poverty-stricken ex-Soviet republic had slid into its biggest political crisis in years after November 02 parliamentary elections, which the opposition and many foreign observers claimed were rigged.
Inside the parliament, fist fights broke out after Saakashvili ordered all pro-government lawmakers to leave the building. Some of the pro-government deputies were beaten as they left the area.
Bureau Report