Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's supporters in Ukraine have collected more than 26,000 signatures on a petition recommending him to become Ukraine's prime minister.
Saakashvili, who has been governing Ukraine's Odesa region since May, has said that he did not see himself as Ukraine's prime minister.
President Petro Poroshenko introduced an online petition system in August according to which any petition drive that collects at least 25,000 signatures in three months or less has to be considered by the president.
The petition supporting Saakashvili's candidacy for the prime minister's post was officially submitted on September 3.
The same day, Ukraine's Channel 5 television network, which is owned by Poroshenko, aired an interview with Saakashvili, who lambasted current Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's reform agenda.
Yatsenyuk responded sharply at a September 4 cabinet meeting, describing Saakashvili's criticism as "deceitful accusations."
