Ruling party Sec-Gen highlights importance of “objective, fact-based” surveys at Gallup Tbilisi conference
Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday attended the Gallup International Association annual conference in Tbilisi. Photo: 1TV
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Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday highlighted the importance of “objective, fact-based” public opinion surveys at the Gallup International Association annual conference, hosted in Tbilisi for the first time.
Addressing the event held under the auspices of the Tbilisi-based Georgian Opinion Research Business International - a member of GIA, a Switzerland-based association of polling organisations - Kaladze stressed objective surveys offered opportunities to “anticipate people’s wishes and expectations and identify problems”, allowing authorities to address them.
In contrast to unbiased surveys, Kaladze, who also serves as the Mayor of Tbilisi, pointed to damages potentially caused by “minimal inaccuracy, or an attempt to manipulate public opinion”.
Slamming alleged attempts to create an “artificial reality” and use surveys for “misleading the public”, the party official noted the domestic public was “well aware” of such practices.
Objective, fact-based surveys are crucial. The main objective of the conference is to identify challenges, issues and achievements of the [public opinion field] in modern world and make efforts to introduce new technology that will help overcome the challenges and solidify the achievements”, Kaladze said.
The Secretary General also praised the importance of the event and extended his gratitude to representatives of more than 30 leading polling organisations from Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States for participating.
Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said surveys conducted by the United States-based National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute on the Georgian political scene were “unreliable”, in comments on latest polls by the organisations putting support for the Government at 17-19 percent.
A new survey released by the International Republican Institute on Tuesday showed a majority of respondents in Georgia naming the European Union and the United States as the country’s “most important political partners” while highlighting Russia as a “major threat”.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party says that their candidate for Tbilisi mayor, incumbent Kakha Kaladze, will receive 60.1% in the October 2 local elections. Per GD’s poll, the head of the United National Movement (UNM) Nika Melia, who is the joint candidate of the opposition parties for Tbilisi mayor, will receive 29.2% in self-government elections.
A new nationwide poll conducted in Georgia by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research reveals ‘continued economic concerns and negative perceptions of growing political polarisation.’ This poll which was fielded in June 2021 prior to the start of the pre-election campaigns for the October 2021 municipal elections say that the Georgian Dream ruling party candidate for Tbilisi, Mayor Kakha Kaladze, is the most liked politician in the country.
The Global Law and Order 2023 report by Gallup, a Washington-based analytics and advisory company, has ranked Georgia ahead of the likes of France, Italy and Canada on perceptions of safety, security and confidence in law enforcement.
A new survey by the International Republican Institute on Wednesday showed 64 percent of Georgian citizens “fully support” the country’s integration into NATO, while the figure for membership in the European Union is at 73 percent.