The parliament in Georgia has scheduled presidential elections for January 4th at a key session called following the ousting of veteran leader Mr Eduard Shevardnadze.
The deputies voted 155 to 0 in favour of the poll date after comfortably exceeding the quorum required for proceedings to take place. Fixing a firm date for elections is a key step in ensuring stability in the volatile Caucasus mountain state.
'The purpose is to overcome this difficult situation. Each of us carries a huge responsibility but I hope we will begin a new era of our country's development,' Interim President Nino Burdzhanadze told the session before the vote was taken.
Fixing a date elections is a key step in ensuring stability after street protests in three tumultuous weeks culminated in the resignation of Mr Shevardnadze on Sunday.
Earlier, Georgia's new leaders claimed a scalp from among Mr Shevardnadze's old allies - forcing the resignation of State Minister Avtandil Dzhorbenadze.
His departure had been on the cards since Ms Burdzhanadze blamed him for Georgia's economic plight and for organising the disputed November 2nd parliamentary election that triggered the street protests and finally brought Mr Shevardnadze down.