A recent survey, commissioned by the Transparency International Georgia and carried out by the Caucasus Research Resource Center on March 3-28, shows that the Georgian Orthodox Church enjoys the highest favorability rating among institutions with 76% trust in surveyed respondents.
The poll, released today, was conducted through nationwide face-to-face interviews with 1,843 persons and has a margin of error plus, minus 2.8%. The results show respondents’ attitudes on broad range of issues, including corruption, government performance, trust towards institutions, media and NGOs.
According to the survey results, the most trusted institution/group in the country is the Orthodox church, followed by teachers and doctors with 65% and 50%, respectively.
The Presidential office enjoys the trust of 41% of respondents, followed by the police – 36%; local government – 32%; Prime Minister – 27%; NGOs – 25%; and courts and media with 20% each. The Parliament has the lowest trust among the surveyed respondents – 17%.
The poll also shows the respondents’ attitudes on the performance of law enforcement agencies.
57% of respondents think that the prosecutor’s office serves the interests of the ruling Georgian Dream party, while 55% of respondents think the same about the Interior Ministry and the State Security Service.
58% of respondents think that the judiciary is under the influence of the ruling party; 51% think that the system is biased and 35% think that it is corrupt. Only 30% believes that the Judiciary is fair.
18% of respondents believe that Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was kidnapped by the Georgian security forces, while 15% believe that he was kidnapped by Azerbaijani operatives with the help of the Georgians. Only 6% believes that Mukhtarli crossed the border himself, a view maintained by Azerbaijani officials.
CRRC also surveyed the respondents’ attitudes on drug-related issues. Here, 72% of respondents said there should be no sentence for using light drugs. 56% of respondents think the same about club drugs, while 43% consider that a person should not be imprisoned for using intravenous drugs.
45% of respondents agree that law enforcement agencies employ the method of planting drugs for detaining specific persons.
As for the corruption in public agencies, only 1% of respondents said that during the last 12 months they or their family members had been asked to pay a bribe for public services.
The Caucasus Research Resource Centers carried out a similar survey in 2016 as well. Back then, the President enjoyed the trust of 39% of respondents. The corresponding figures for the Prime Minister and the Parliament stood at 36% and 14%, respectively.
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