On January 16, National Democratic Institute (NDI) released its public opinion survey results, which show respondents’ attitudes towards broad range of issues, among them perceptions of state of democracy, foreign policy, current issues, trust towards politicians and institutions.
According to the poll, perception of country direction is at its lowest in a decade. The number of respondents who think that Georgia is going in the “wrong direction” has increased to 53%, compared to 49% in July 2019. The percentage of respondents who think Georgia is moving to the “right direction” stands at 19%, one percent increase compared to the previous poll. Those who think the country “is not changing at all” represent 24% of the respondents, six percent drop compared to July 2019.
The poll also shows that 59% of those surveyed say Georgia is not a democracy now, making it the worst figure since 2010. 33% of the respondents, however, say that Georgia is a democracy.
Performance of institutions and politicians
According to the survey, 64% of the respondents rate government performance as “bad,” 15% increase compared to March 2018. Those who rate government performance as “good” represent 30% of the respondents, 15% drop compared to March 2018.
Institutions with the highest performance ranking are Georgian army – 52% (53% in July 2019) and Georgian Orthodox Church – 50% (64% in July 2019). Georgian police ranks at 43%, with 35% rating it as average and 19% – as “bad” or “very bad.”
The respondents named the Courts (45%) and the Parliament (57%) as the lowest performing national institutions. They enjoy 10% and 9% of positive evaluations, respectively.
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Defense are seen as top performing ministries, assessed positively by 32%, 23% and 23%, respectively. Their performances are viewed as bad/very bad by 27%, 30% and 28%, respectively.
Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Finance got lowest positive assessments by 10% and 8%, respectively. 42% see Ministry of Economy’s performance as bad/very bad, while the number stands at 38% for Ministry of Finance.
For nearly all ministries, compared to March 2018 poll, the share of respondents viewing their performances as “bad” has increased.
In respect to performance of leaders, Mayor of Tbilisi Kakha Kaladze tops the ranking with 44% (asked in Tbilisi only), followed by Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia – 21%, Speaker Talakvadze – 13%. The number for President Salome Zurabishvili stands at 9%. The latter’s performance is seen as bad by 54%, while for Speaker Talakvadze the number stands at 36%, for PM Gakharia – 34% and Mayor Kaladze at 22%.
Party Support and future vote
According to the survey, Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia (GD) enjoys the strongest public support with 19% saying GD is “the party is closest” to them. Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) enjoys 13% of support, European Georgia – Free Democrats – 7%, Labor Party – 6%, Alliance of Patriots – 5%.
20% of the respondents say “No Party” is closest to them, 14% refused to answer, while 6% responded “don’t know.”
Responding to the question “if parliamentary elections were held tomorrow, would you say you are decided or undecided about how you would vote?” 56% say they are undecided, 39% is decided, while 3% does not know. The poll also found that 65% would be “likely voters” and 35% would be “likely abstainers” if the elections were held tomorrow.
Asked which party they would vote for if parliamentary elections were held tomorrow, 20% says they would vote for GD, 13% would vote for UNM, 8% – European Georgia 0 Free Democrats, 5% – Labor Party, 4% – Alliance of Patriots. In this respect, 14% refused to answer, 14% said “no party” and 12% says they “don’t know.”
Asked how “the tone and nature of political debate in this country” changed since 2012, 14% says it “has become more positive,” 30% thinks it “has not changed much”, 45% says it “has become negative. 9% says they do not know, 2% refused to answer.
EU and NATO support
The number of respondents who support Georgian government’s stated goal to join the European Union (EU) increased to 82% from 78% in July 2019. (83% in December 2018; 74% in February 2012). 74% approve government’s stated goal to join the NATO, 3% increase from July 2019.
Sources of Information
For 69% of the respondents TV is the first source of information for receiving the news about Georgian politics and current events, while Internet/Facebook is named as the first source by 24%. For 25% the latter is the second source. In the capital city of Tbilisi, TV is the first source of information for 56%, while internet/Facebook is named by 37%. They are named as second source by 22% and 27% respectively.
6% of the respondents “completely trust” Georgian media, while 66% has “somewhat trust” in it. 13% “somewhat distrust” it, while 10% says they “completely distrust” Georgian media. TV Imedi is named as the most trusted TV channel by 30% (32% in April 2019), while newly kicked off Mtavari Arkhi TV founded by former Rustavi 2 TV staff enjoys 18% of trust. 12% said they trust Rustavi 2 (28% in April 2019). TV Pirveli is most trusted among 5% of respondents, while the number stands at 3% for Georgian Public Broadcaster.
Current Events
The poll found out that 71% of respondents have heard of the selection of Supreme Court judges. Out of those 71% 17% said the process was going “good,” 49% assessed it “bad,” 33% do not know.
In regards with June 20 events, 45% hold government “primarily responsible” (43% in July 2019), opposition – 12% (7% in July 2019), UNM – 5% (8% in July 2019), Giorgi Gakharia, then Interior Minister – 4% (9% in July 2019). 10% said “everyone is equally responsible” (14% in July 2019).
61% said “actions taken against civilians [of June 20 events’ participants] by the government” were “too harsh,” 15% said they were “appropriate.” In respect to “actions taken against law enforcement agents by the government,” the respondents say they were appropriate – 18%, too mild – 29%, too harsh – 28%, 24% – does not know.
59% of respondents were aware of the Parliament’s November 14 downvoting of the constitutional amendment that would transfer the country to fully proportional system from 2020 instead of 2024. Out of those 59%, 70% views Parliament’s decision not to support the amendment to electoral system “negatively,” while 16% assesses Parliament’s decision “positively.”
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