Exit poll indicates Saakashvili will win Georgian presidential election

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
President Mikhail Saakashvili appeared headed for victory in Georgia's election, according to an exit poll in this former Soviet republic where he has fought to restore his democratic credentials. But his fight to do so is not yet over. The exit poll showed him winning with only 53.8 percent of Saturday's vote. He needs an absolute majority to avoid a runoff election in two weeks, and the exit poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. And the opposition, which claimed the exit poll and the vote had been rigged, called its supporters onto the streets Sunday in protest. Saakashvili's leading challenger, Levan Gachechiladze, received 28.3 percent of the vote, according to the exit poll.