NDI polls: ‘Georgian people’s trust in institutions, leaders declining’

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) has released the results of recently conducted polls earlier today, saying that people’s trust in state institutions and leaders has declined, and the number of Georgians who evaluate the current government’s performance as ‘bad’ has increased from 49 per cent in March 2018 to 64 per cent today. 

The poll also shows increasing negative assessments of the president, prime minister, the courts, and the parliament. Public opinion of parliament is at an all-time low with 57 percent evaluating its performance as poor and only nine per cent ranking it positively,” NDI reports.

NDI says that with less than a year before parliamentary elections, poll results show that Georgians are 'increasingly dissatisfied' with the direction the country is headed in, with 53 per cent believing the country is going in the wrong direction and only 19 per cent saying it is going in the right direction.

Furthermore, 59 per cent do not believe Georgia is a democracy now, a significant increase from 46 percent just one year ago in December 2018.” 

Of the main public institutions, the Georgian army has the most positive assessment, 52 per cent, followed by the Georgian Church at 50 per cent, ‘which has dropped significantly from 64 per cent in July 2019.’ 

The polls read that most Georgians ‘cannot identify a party that is closest to them’, with 19 per cent choosing ruling party Georgian Dream, 13 per cent opposition United National Movement, seven per cent for European Georgia-Free Democrats, six per cent for the Labor Party, five per cent Alliance of Patriots, four per cent Political Platform-New Georgia, and three per cent Democratic Movement-United Georgia. 

While 65 per cent of respondents said they would vote if elections were held tomorrow, 56 per cent are undecided for whom. Only 33 per cent of respondents said they would vote for the same party they voted for in 2016.” 

The ruling Georgian Dream party members say that NDI polls "never reflect reality" and they do not believe in them, while the opposition has stated that the polls depict the real situation in the country. 

• The results reflect data collected from November 19-December 13, 2019, through face-to-face interviews around Georgia, excluding occupied territories,
• that included 2,180 completed interviews. 
• The average margin of error is +/- 1.9 percent.
• NDI’s survey work is funded by UK aid and was carried out by CRRC Georgia.