Ukrainian opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko said on Monday the nation was beginning a new political life.

Speaking to reporters at his headquarters in the capital, Yushchenko said "Today, in Ukraine, a new political year has begun. This is the beginning of a new epoch, the beginning of a new great democracy."

His remarks came after exit polls and early results gave him lead in the rerun of the presidential election.

The revote of presidential run-off between Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Yushchenko began Sunday with 32,118polling stations opening at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) for voters to cast their ballots.

It was the third time in eight weeks that the two rival candidates faced off in a fiercely waged presidential contest.

Yanukovych defeated Yushchenko by a narrow margin in the November 21 run-off. But Yushchenko supporters staged widespread demonstration, protesting at what they called election fraud.

The results of the Nov. 21 presidential run-off were annulled by the Supreme Court, leading to Sunday's revoting