Invoking Trump, ex-Georgian leader launches new party in Ukraine

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili speaks during a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine November 11, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

KIEV (Reuters) - Citing past praise by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for his reforms, former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili launched a new political party in Ukraine on Friday to fight corruption, just days after resigning bitterly as a regional governor.

Saakashvili, who is widely credited with cracking down on graft when he led Georgia from 2004 till 2013, quit as governor of the coastal Odessa region last Monday, accusing his erstwhile patron, President Petro Poroshenko, of blocking his reforms there.