Edison Research polls: incumbent Tbilisi Mayor Kaladze, ex-PM Gakharia equally liked by voters
Both incumbent Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze (L) and ex-PM Giorgi Gakharia are running for Tbilisi mayor.
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Edison Research polls commissioned by the opposition-minded Formula TV say that 55 per cent of voters like both incumbent Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze and ex-PM Giorgi Gakharia who are running for Tbilisi mayor in the October 2 municipal elections.
The head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia, who is also running for the post, is liked by 45 per cent of voters, according to the polls.
The polls say that the ruling Georgian Dream party is expected to receive 33 per cent of votes in the upcoming elections, the UNM will get 25 per cent of votes, while Gakharia’s For Georgia party will come third with 10 per cent of votes.
NDI polls released in early August.
The rating of other parties per the polls is as follows:
- Labour Party - 6%.
- Girchi-More Freedom - 4%.
- Lelo - 3 %.
- For People - 3%.
- Alliance of Patriots - 3%.
- Third Force - Strategy Agmashenebeli - 2%.
- European Georgia - 2%.
- Girchi - 2%.
- Nation - Levan Vasadze - 2%.
- Droa - 1%.
- Citizens - 1%.
According to the polls 51 percent of voters support the holding of repeat parliamentary elections by 2022.
78 per cent of interviewees said that they fully or partially connect the death of cameraman Lekso Lashkarava to his injuries received during an anti-LGBT rally in central Tbilisi on July 5 and not with alleged drug overdose.
The polls say that more people are trusting the public defender’s office - 62 per cent of votes.
The Georgian Dream ruling party officials have stated that the ‘polls have nothing to do with reality. They reflect the dreams of opposition.’
The polls were conducted between August 13 and September 5 around the country and 1,500 individuals eligible to vote participated in it.
The European Parliament as well as the OSCE/ODIHR will send observers for Georgia’s October 2 municipal elections. OSCE/ODIHR has tweeted that both its short and long-term observers will monitor the elections. Twenty-five foreign organisations have been registered so far to observe the elections. The Georgian government says that it wants more international observers to prevent any question marks regarding the election results.
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) has offered recommendations ahead of the October 2 municipal elections to ‘help the country’ maintain its 30-year progress and leadership in the region for its commitment to Euro-Atlantic values.
Georgian central and district commission members have signed a code of ethics ahead of the upcoming October 2 municipal elections in Georgia, promising to remain fair, impartial and independent.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has spent 2,794,718 GEL on election ads between August 2 and August 22. The Georgian Dream spent the following amounts on:
Local TV channel Imedi has responded to former Georgian PM and Tbilisi mayor candidate Giorgi Gakharia’s accusations that the channel has political bias and has thus refused to air him live in the run up to the October 2 municipal elections. Imedi pointed out an alleged connection between the current opposition United National Movement (UNM) party which governed the country from 2004 to 2012 and Giorgi Gakharia who left the post of PM on February 18, 2021 due to a disagreement with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and launched the For Georgia political party in late May.
The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) has stated that some political parties ‘are exercising unprecedented pressure’ on its members which ‘disrupts the activities’ of the district election commissions and ‘poses threats’ to the general election environment ahead of the October 2 municipal elections.
Incumbent Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has published a video address of former teammates from Italian club AC Milan on his Facebook page, in which they wish him victory in the upcoming mayoral elections. Former teammates including Paolo Maldini, Gennaro Gattuso, Francesco Totti, Filippo Inzaghi and Italian sport journalists characterise Kaladze as a responsible person and express hope that the Georgian people will again elect him mayor of Tbilisi.