NDI pre-election poll: Georgian Dream has leading edge

A public opinion survey conducted by National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Georgia to gage the views of the Georgian public ahead of the June 15 election shows Georgian Dream candidate David Narmania as the favourite for Tbilisi Mayor.

Results of the indicator poll, in which 3,942 people were interviewed, were released today by NDI.

One of the main results showed Narmania had the highest rating of all candidates running for Tbilisi Mayor, the NDI press release stated.

In the survey, when participants were asked who they would choose for represent Tbilisi as Mayor, Narmania was the favourite (39% of votes), UNM candidate Nikoloz Melia was second (10%) and was followed by United Opposition coalition candidate Nino Burjanadze (9%). The Labor Party candidate gained 2 percent of the votes.

In the same question 36 percent of respondents did not express an opinion and 3 percent chose other electoral candidates.

If the local government elections were held tomorrow, 60 percent of those surveyed said they would participate and vote.

From the indicator results, if the elections were held tomorrow nationwide, Georgian Dream coalition would lead the way with 48 percent of votes. UNM would gain 12 percent of votes while Nino Burjanadze-of the United Opposition coalition and the Labor Party candidate would both gain 4 percent votes.

Thirty percent of respondents did not express an opinion and 2 percent said they would vote for other electoral subject.

As for Tbilisi, the pre-election survey showed the Georgian Dream coalition was ahead (43%) while UNM placed second (9%); followed by Nino Burjanadze-United Opposition coalition (8%) and Labor Party (3%).

In the same question 33 percent of respondents did not express a preference, while four percent chose other electoral candidates.

According to the survey the most likable Georgian politician was Defence Minister Irakli Alasania. He gained an approval rating of 67 percent. Twelve percent of those surveyed said they did not like him while 17 percent did not have an opinion about him.

Georgia’s Prime Minister was the second most popular politician – he gained an approval of 64 percent and a negative rating of 15 percent.

Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili was liked by just under two thirds of respondents (61%) and disliked by 18 percent.

Georgian ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and current Vice Prime Minister and Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze both gained a positive rating of 51 percent and a negative rating of 24 percent.

UNM leader David Bakradze gained similar results – he was liked by 51 percent of respondents and disliked by 30 percent.

According to the NDI poll, the highest approval rating was awarded to the Patriarch of Georgia. When asked whether respondents liked Patriarch Ilia II or not, 96 percent answered in favour, 1 percent responded negatively, 2 percent did not have an opinion and the remaining respondents chose not to answer or marked the category ‘have not heard’.

The most popular female politicians were Georgian Dream Members of Parliament Eka Beselia and Tinatin Khidasheli, with 47 percent and 46 percent approval rating respectively. President Giorgi Margevlashvili rated 46 percent favorability.

Meanwhile a large majority of people (85%) believed it was important to have a strong opposition party in the country. Fifty-one percent considered UNM as the strongest opposition party. However, the NDI poll said most of UNM’s strength appeared to be outside the capital city.

The NDI survey was conducted from March 26 to April 18.