Georgian 'rose revolution' leader claims polls victory

The official results from Sunday's vote were delayed until later Monday, but a reliable private exit poll gave Saakashvili, a US-educated lawyer, 86 percent of the vote, while none of his five rivals obtained even double digits.

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Saakashvili spearheaded a wave of protests which six weeks ago forced the resignation of Shevardnadze -- the 75-year-old best known in the West for helping end the Cold War as Soviet foreign minister.

Moments after polling stations closed on Sunday night, the beaming frontrunner was already celebrating his win.

"I want to thank the whole Georgian nation," he said. "It is not just my victory but the victory of the Georgian people."

"We have got a very important mandate from the people to clean up Georgia, to make it peaceful and prosperous, to make Georgia efficient, investment-friendly, to consolidate power."

"We will do our best to promote these aims... You cannot do everything in one day. We will go step by step."

His elegant Dutch wife, Sandra, by his side, he laid out a bold programme of reform to lift the country out of the quagmire of chaos and poverty which characterised Shevardnadze's rule and ultimately turned his people against him.

Saakashvili said his priorities would be waging war on corruption, rescuing the economy, bringing separatist territories back under control, embracing Europe and the United States and mending the fractious relations with neighbouring Russia.