NDI polls: “Georgians remain skeptical of parliament’s willingness to address their concerns”
54% of Georgians believe that elected officials in the Georgian parliament do not take into account the opinions of the people and 55% believe that MPs serve only their own interests. Photo by Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
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The National Democratic Institute (NDI) has released the results of its recent polls which show that 54% of Georgians believe that elected officials in the Georgian parliament do not take into account the opinions of the people and 55% believe that MPs serve only their own interests.
While the country continues to endure a political crisis, it is important to demonstrate that the fundamental needs of the public are being met,” said Alan Gillam, NDI Country Director.
Out of 2,024 participants who completed the survey between February 17-24, only 22% of the respondents believe that the country is going in the right direction, while the majority (44%) are dissatisfied with the direction Georgia is headed in.
Image: NDI Georgia.
Per the NDI’s recent findings, the majority of respondents believe that the parliament’s top three priorities for the upcoming year should be the country’s economy (79%), healthcare (34%), and education (22%), followed by territorial integrity, human rights and improvement of the political climate.
The polls found that the lack of trust in parliament can be attributed to “low interest in engagement with the institution”, and 39% of the respondents stated that they do not want to be engaged with Parliament at all when asked about their preferred form of communication with the institution.
Image: NDI Georgia.
Moreover, an overwhelming majority of survey participants claimed that have not been involved in the work of parliament over the last four years.
The recent findings show that the majority of respondents do not see any of the existing parties as being close to them (40%), while 19% choose the ruling Georgian Dream party. 14% refused to answer, 8% could not identify one, 7% named opposition United National Movement party, and another 7% named other parties European Georgia, Girchi-More Freedom, Lelo, Patriots Alliance, Labour Party, and Strategy Aghmashenebeli.
Image: NDI Georgia.
Almost a half of the NDI poll respondents would like to see more gender inclusivity in the Georgian parliament, with 49% in favor of equal representation.
The participants expect the political parties to address the issue of gender balance “starting within their own ranks”.
Image: NDI Georgia.
Overall, the majority of survey participants assess the performance of the country’s parliament as acceptable: 38% believe that parliament exhibits an average performance, 36% are dissatisfied with it and 14% believe that the parliament is performing well.
The results reflect data collected between February 17-24, 2021, through 2,024 mobile phone interviews across Georgia, excluding the occupied territories.
NDI’s survey work is funded by UK Aid and was carried out by the Caucasus Research Resource Centre (CRRC) Georgia.
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