NDI polls: 27% would vote for Georgian Dream, 10% for UNM

The US National Democratic Institute (NDI), together with the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC Georgia), has published the political section of its survey today, which reads that the majority of those surveyed support the Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party.

NDI says that when they asked people to choose the party "closest to them,” 31 percent of Georgians identified the GD, 10 percent the United National Movement (UNM) opposition, four percent European Georgia opposition, and three percent Alliance of Patriots opposition, with youth support even lower.

 Results were similar for respondents when they were asked which party they would vote for if parliamentary elections were held tomorrow, with 27 percent selecting GD, 10 percent UNM, and three percent European Georgia.

 It appears people, particularly the youth, are still waiting for compelling messages from parties about what they would do differently, how they would deliver better outcomes. Until then, it is unlikely we will see any big shifts in party preferences,” said Laura Thornton, the NDI senior country director.

The polls read that people mostly expect lawmakers to serve their party’s interests (75 percent) and their own interests (55 percent), over those of citizens (41 percent), with results even less favorable in Tbilisi.

People in the survey believed that there are still too few women in parliament and local governments, and support quota legislation to increase women’s representation in parliament (63 percent).

Georgians identified domestic violence (81 percent) and child marriage (72 percent) as problems facing women in Georgia.

An overwhelming majority (77 percent) of citizens support legislation against sexual harassment.

• Survey results reflect data collected from November 29 to December 19, through 2,298 face-to-face interviews with a nationwide representative sample (excluding occupied territories). The average margin of error is +/- 1,9%.