Former President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia said on Friday that he has returned from exile, ahead of local elections in the Caucasus country presently gripped by a protracted political crisis. 

"I risked my life and freedom to be back," Saakashvili said in a video posted on Facebook, adding that he is in the western city of Batumi on the Black Sea coast. 

"I call on everyone to go to the elections and vote for the United National Movement," referring to the party he founded, which is now Georgia's main opposition.