Outgoing president Saakashvili said that regardless of who wins in Sunday’s presidential vote, this election is only “a minor phase” in a completely new stage, which will involve “completely other struggle”, when “lots of new interesting” events will take place.

Saakashvili, who will be the first president of Georgia to serve his second term in full was speaking with journalists in Anaklia on Georgia’s Black Sea coast.

In Anaklia he toured some of the infrastructure projects, which were launched when his government was in office, and expressed regret that constructions were now suspended by the incumbent government.

“Today is an election day, but it’s a routine working day for me… and I am obliged to perform my functions to the end,” said Saakashvili, who has yet to appear at a polling station in Tbilisi to cast ballot in Sunday’s presidential vote.

“It’s an ordinary day for me; I am not running in this election, am I?” he said.

“No matter what [the election] result is… it’s only a minor phase, because under the new constitution role of the president is quit insignificant compared to what it was,” he said. “It’s only a certain phase; there is completely other struggle and we are moving to a completely other stage and many new interesting things will happen. So we should not stop thinking even for a day about these issues [pointing at unfinished constructions in Anaklia],” he said.

Later president’s administration released one-minute video address of Saakashvili in which he says that these elections are important and calls for a high voter turnout.

“Now I am heading to Tbilisi to cast ballot,” he said. “People should know that each vote counts; this struggle is really worth of it and it is a very important phase of this struggle. Each ballot cast today will give important results tomorrow, so there is no time to stay home now. I think that it is a right trend, because active [participation] of people now will largely determine developments in the future. So it’s my request, advice and appeal to those who have not yet been at [polling stations], not to be lazy and go to the elections like I am now running to the polling station.”

Later on afternoon he turned out at a polling station in downtown Tbilisi; he did not comment at the polling station, instead invited journalists to his home.

“Now I am going home, I invite you all there; let’s have a conversation there; let’s go,” Saakashvili told journalists and left the polling station.