The leader of Georgia’s Rose Revolution is facing a fight for political survival tonight as the presidential election sparked mass protests and claims of ballot rigging.

Support for Mikhail Saakashvili has slipped below the 50 per cent required for an outright victory, leaving him facing a run-off against a single opposition candidate.

Failure to secure a first-round victory would be a humiliating rebuff to Mr Saakashvili, who swept to power four years ago with 97 per cent of the vote after ousting Eduard Shevardnadze, the former president.

Mr Saakashvili had offered reconciliation with his opponents in an attempt to end Georgia’s bitter political divisions. He now faces the prospect of a united opposition campaign against him in a second round in two weeks’ time.

His support slumped in the capital, where he came second, a reflection of public outrage at the brutal crackdown on opposition protests in November that prompted him to call early elections. Mr Saakashvili has enjoyed Western support for his democratic reforms, but was strongly criticised by Europe and the US after riot police fired teargas and rubber bullets at the demonstrators.

Mr Saakashvili, 40, had appeared set for a comfortable victory after exit polls in yesterday’s election against six rivals put him well above the threshold. But his lead slipped to 48.55 per cent as votes were counted today.

The process was painfully slow, however, and only a quarter of votes had been counted 24 hours after the polls closed. Officials blamed heavy snow in Georgia for the delay. Opposition candidates claimed that the election had been rigged, despite a favourable assessment by international observers.

Levan Gachechiladze, who was second with 26.12 per cent, insisted that he had won. “Saakashvili lost and it cannot happen that Georgia will not defend its freedom, that we won’t win,” he told a rally of 5,000 supporters in Tbilisi, the capital.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said that the election had been “genuinely competitive” and largely met democratic standards. But it also said that it had been marked by “pervasive allegations of violations”. It criticised Mr Saakashvili for mixing state and election activities to create “an inequitable campaign environment”.

Russia dismissed the OSCE’s praise as “superficial”. The Kremlin imposed an economic blockade against Georgia 15 months ago as part of a bitter conflict with Mr Saakashvili, who wants to end Russian influence over Georgia by joining Nato and the EU.

Mr Gachechiladze, 43, who represented a coalition of nine opposition parties, campaigned to abolish the presidency and turn Georgia into a parliamentary republic. He accused Mr Saakashvili of “dictatorship” and said that he would step down once he had carried out the reform.

Mr Saakashvili has cracked down on corruption, modernised the police and restored permanent supplies of electricity and gas. The economy is growing by 13 per cent a year and Georgia is attracting record foreign investment. But many Georgians say that poverty remains widespread.

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