Freedom House: ‘Georgian gov’t widely commended among population for imposing strict but transparent measures to tackle pandemic’

Freedom House’s latest report Democracy Under Lockdown reads that in Georgia the government has been widely commended among the population for imposing strict, but transparent measures to tackle the pandemic.

Freedom House has examined the situation in 192 countries from the beginning of 2020 to September in order to collect information about human rights and democracy during the coronavirus pandemic.

The report reads that the situation in terms of democracy and human rights has deteriorated in 80 countries since the coronavirus pandemic spread, which is reflected in the abuse of power by the government, the silencing of critics and the weakening or closure of important institutions.

Georgia is among the 111 countries where the state of democracy and human rights has not changed since the pandemic.

Georgia has had one of the lowest death rates globally, resulting in a significant popularity boost for the ruling Georgian Dream party ahead of October elections. These cases are a reminder that any country can take steps to manage health risks while respecting human rights’, reads the report.

Covid-19’s impact on national elections is one of the issues of the report, which also includes Georgia’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

The report reads that survey respondents flagged the elections as a possible positive example of international engagement in support of necessary electoral preparations”, reads the report.

398 journalists, civil society workers, activists and other experts were interviewed as part of the survey.

In March of this year Freedom House published its report Freedom in the World 2020. According to the survey, Georgia is among Partly Free countries with 61 points out of 100.