An opposition rally in central Tbilisi ended without incident, with around 10,000 supporters of the nine-party coalition opposing Saakashvili dispersing without having conceded defeat.

The Central Electoral Commission said that the opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze is trailing at only 24.4 per cent.

Speaking to the opposition gathering in Rike Square, Gachechiladze called on his supporters to again rally on Tuesday after the announcement of official results. "We will come together on Rike Square and celebrate our victory," he said. The opposition candidate also said that more than 1,000 complaints of electoral fraud had been compiled, but the international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Sunday afternoon that the Georgian vote had for the most part been free and fair.

While the election was "in essence consistent with most international standards for democratic elections, significant challenges were revealed which need to be addressed urgently," the OSCE said in its formal report.

Saakashvili, who rose to international prominence in 2003 as the figurehead of the so-called "Rose Revolution.", needs to get over 50 per cent to avoid a second round of elections, which would be held at the earliest within two weeks.

"We are committed to having free and fair elections," Saakashvili told reporters after he cast his own ballot Saturday. "We are committed to having Georgia as a beacon of democracy in our part of the world."

The elections had been brought forward to January following the November 2007 police crackdown on opposition activists, and subsequent imposition of a state of emergency by Saakasvhili.

His unleashing in November 2007 of brutal police action - involving batons, rubber bullets and tear gas - against opposition activists caused Saakashvili's stock to tumble in the eyes of even his most ardent supporters - in the West, too.

Largely because of this decision, Saakashvili stood no hope in Saturday's polls of repeating his 96 per cent tally of 2004.

The charismatic lawmaker himself increasingly reiterates his successful fight against corruption and crime, and warns of political "wolves in sheep's clothing," but fails adequately to answer questions about the still-prevalent poverty among ordinary Georgians.

Critics describe Saakashvili as a "power-conscious demagogue," but at the same time admit his keen intelligence. While completing his legal studies he had also worked at a large Manhattan legal firm and was a lobbyist for the oil industry.