Georgia's pro-Russia ex-vice premier Giorgi Margvelashvili has claimed victory in Sunday's presidential election, media reports said.
People of the former Soviet republic went to the polls on Sunday to elect a successor to President Mikheil Saakashvili, who had served the maximum two terms in office.
Exit polls by a local TV network show Margvelashvili outdistancing other candidates by nearly 67 percent of the vote. His immediate rival and Saakashvili's nominee David Bakradze has conceded defeat. Margvelashvili thanked supporters on Monday even though the election commission was yet to announce the final results.
Margvelashvili, who had also served as Education Minister, is close to billionaire Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili who has been working to mend ties with Russia.
Outgoing President Saakashvili's anti-Russia and pro-Western stance has been widely criticized and his policies had resulted in a brief 2008 war and a fierce rivalry with Russia.
Observers say the new President is expected to have much less powers because of constitutional amendments that shifted some authority from the President to the Prime Minister. Margvelashvili's victory is expected to put an end to Georgia's confrontational policies with Russia, the reports said.
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