Georgia: 70% of voters prefer a coalition government

According to Edison Research’s election sentiment poll, 70 percent of respondents prefer a coalition government to a one-party government.

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Below is the distribution of responses on how voters would vote in the parliamentary elections if they took place today, according to Edison Research:

• Georgian Dream (ruling party) – 36 percent;

• Undecided – 24 percent;

• United National Movement – Strength in Unity (a bloc headed by former President Saakashvili) – 17 percent;

• European Georgia – five percent;

• Giorgi Vashadze (Strategy Agmashenebeli) – four percent;

• Labor Party – three percent;

• Alliance of Patriots – three percent;

• Girchi – two percent;

• Lelo – two percent;

• Aleko Elisashvili (Citizens) – one percent;

• Nino Burjanadze (United Georgia) – one percent;

• Irakli Okruashvili (Winning Georgia) – one percent;

• Other parties – one percent.

The majority of respondents – 54 percent – want to see a new party / parties at the head of parliament. 36 percent want Georgian Dream to remain in the majority. 10 percent refused to answer this question or say they don’t know. According the poll by Edison Research, 26 percent of the population believe that if the opposition coalition wins, David Bakradze should become its candidate for prime minister.

23 percent believe that Giorgi Vashadze (Strategy Agmashenebeli) should be the candidate. 21 percent name Mikhail Saakashvili’s candidacy. The poll commissioned by Formula TV was conducted from September 17 to October 7 using the face-to-face survey method.

In the course of the study, 4,500 eligible voters aged 18 and over, living in Georgia throughout the country (excluding the occupied territories), were interviewed at random. The error of results is + – 1.5 percent.

Parliamentary elections in Georgia will be held on October 31.