President Saakashvili said in an interview with the French daily, Le Monde, that he had thought of becoming Prime Minister after the end of his second and final presidential term, but “too many uncertainties remain for now.”

Asked what his plans would be after his presidential term expires in 2013 and whether he had on mind becoming Prime Minister, like Russia’s Vladimir Putin did, Saakashvili responded: “Putin is Putin. Russia is ruled neither by PM or President – Putin and FSB rules it.”

“What attracts me very much now is freedom; to walk around the city without bodyguards,” he said as quoted by Le Monde in an interview conducted in Bucharest and published on June 5. “My major goal for Georgia remains continuation of reforms. I have created the [ruling National Movement] party, which will outlive me. I have learned from my political practice, that reforms seriously spend previously gained popularity and you are not loved anymore; but then people anyway become grateful for the job you’ve done. One follows another. I’ve been thinking about that possibility [of becoming PM], but too many uncertainties remain for now. Who knows what the economic situation will be in two years, or condition of constitutional reform, or my mood and political rating?”