Protesters in Georgia set up camp outside president Mikheil Saakashvili's office today and the EU urged talks on the fifth day of an opposition street campaign against his rule.
Some 20,000 people demonstrated today outside parliament in the former Soviet republic, the fifth day of their protest.
The European Union said the opposition should settle for dialogue and that the government should address the protesters' grievances to avoid the "debilitating" crisis repeating itself.
Several thousand people marched on the imposing presidential residence overlooking the Mtkvari River and dozens set up tents to spend the night.
"That way he will hear our voices much more loudly," said Kakha Kukava, one of the opposition leaders.
Another, former United Nations ambassador Irakly Alasania, said the opposition was ready to hold talks with the president but that an election was the only way out of the deadlock.
"We are ready to discuss with the president the grounds for these demands and also hear from him how he sees the political crisis (being) resolved," said Alasania. "He created a one-man state, and our political objective is to change this system."
Turnout dipped over the weekend and there were signs that some opposition leaders were looking to hold talks with the president on finding a way out of the stand-off.
Some 60,000 people rallied at the start of the campaign on Thursday, followed by 20,000 on Friday, blocking Tbilisi's central avenue and the main roads running past the president's office and the public broadcaster.
Critics accuse Mr Saakashvili, who came to power on the back of the 2003 Rose Revolution, of monopolising power and exerting pressure on the judiciary and the media.
Last year's war, when Russia crushed a Georgian assault on breakaway South Ossetia, has emboldened opponents who say the 41-year-old leader has made too many mistakes to remain in power until 2013.
But analysts doubt the opposition can remain united or muster the numbers over a sustained period to force him out. Despite the defection of some senior allies and repeated cabinet reshuffles since the war, Mr Saakashvili's position appears to remain strong.
The West, which receives oil via Georgia from the Caspian Sea, is watching the situation closely. In November 2007, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the last peaceful mass demonstrations against Saakashvili.
Diplomats say a protracted stand-off risks sparking unrest.
The European Union's special envoy for the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, has been trying to broker a dialogue but opposition leaders have sent mixed signals about their readiness to talk.
"People like Mr Semneby have been talking to them," a senior government source said. "There are stirrings, but they haven't settled on anything yet."
Reuters