The U.S. polling firm Global Strategy Group was contracted by the Rustavi 2 broadcasting company, with the support of Eurasia Foundation, British Council and Open Society Georgia Foundation, to conduct exit polls on November 2 parliamentary elections.
The authorities and the presidential-backed election bloc leaders expressed fears that the exit polls might cause destabilization, recalling the case of Azerbaijani elections. While the opposition parties claim that the authorities? fears are caused with the knowledge that their popularity rate is extremely low.
The Global Strategy Group is a polling firm, whose clients are ABC News, American Express, CBS News, Oracle. The firm?s client also was Presidential Candidate Al Gore in 2000.
The opposition parties lead the recent opinion polls. A survey sponsored by the Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF) showed that the National Movement is now the most popular party in Georgia with 22.8% support.
Another leading opposition party, the Burjanadze-Democrats bloc, which had for several weeks been the front-runner, received 19.8% support. A third opposition group, the Labor Party, received 17.6%. The presidential-backed election bloc For a New Georgia – 8.7%.
The OSGF survey was based on interviews with 1,000 people in Georgia’s regions and another 1,000 in the capital Tbilisi, conducted October 19-22.