Former foreign minister Salome Zurabishvili has won Georgia's presidential election, becoming the first woman to hold the role.
The 66-year-old took 59.6 per cent of Wednesday's vote after 99 per cent of ballots had been counted, the country's election commission said early Thursday, while her rival, Grigol Vashadze, also a former foreign minister, took 40.4 per cent.
"The country made a fundamental decision today," Zurabishvili said, according to the television station Rustavi 2. "We all, definitively and firmly, said no to the past."
Zurabishvili ran as an independent but is backed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which wants to develop ties with both Russia and the European Union.
She said she would now seek dialogue with those who had not supported her in the presidential race. The new president is set to take office in mid-December.
Vashadze, who was a close runner-up in the first round of voting last month, and his opposition coalition, Strength Is In Unity, support integration with the EU and the Western military alliance NATO.
Zurabishvili's supporters say she would bring international stature to the presidency. But her opponents have criticised her for statements that appeared to blame Georgia for the 2008 war and remarks about minorities that some see as xenophobic.
Zurabishvili was born in France and served as French ambassador to Georgia until becoming Georgia's foreign minister in 2004.
"Diplomatic work in France for me was also a work for Georgia," Zurabishvili said. "Everyone knew that I am Georgian who fights for its country. I knew very well the price of independence and freedom, because I am the child of the country whose ancestors have sacrificed themselves for the independence and freedom."
Turnout was around 66 per cent of Georgia's 3.5 million voters. Outgoing President Giorgi Margvelashvili declined to run.
The vote marked the last time Georgians directly elected the president, as the country is set to convert to a parliamentary republic.
The next presidential election is to be conducted by an electoral college including parliament members.
With AP, Reuters
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