NDI survey: 51% believe there is no democracy in Georgia

The majority of the recent National Democratic Institute (NDI) survey respondents have not been able to choose whom to support in politics and believe that there is no democracy in Georgia, although the majority supported the need for the country to join the European Union and NATO. The survey also found that there are more opponents to vaccination than supporters.

The survey was conducted on July 13-25, 2021 via telephone, by dialing a random number. 2,016 people from all over Georgia answered the survey questions.

70% could not decide which political force to support

Two months before the local self-government elections (scheduled for October 2, 2021), 70% of respondents could not answer the question of which political party is closest to their views.

51% said that none of the current parties met their needs.

Moreover, if these elections were held tomorrow, 61% of the population would take part in them.

Of those who have already decided, 18% said they will vote for the ruling Georgian Dream party, 6% – either for the leading United National Movement opposition party or for another opposition force.

The NDI explained that the individual support ratios for specific parties were so low that they could not be used to predict election results.

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Unemployment is the biggest problem

59% of respondents named unemployment as the country’s biggest problem at the moment.

42% of the population cite the growing prices as the main problem.

The rest of the problems was named as follows:

• Poverty – 19%,
• Devaluation of the national currency (GEL) – 17%,
• Low wages – 16%,
• High taxes – 12%.

68% of respondents believe they can buy fewer goods and services compared to the period before the pandemic. Only 2% believe that their financial capacity has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.

47% are dissatisfied with parliament

47% of respondents rated the work of the Georgian parliament as poor, 10% – as good, and 33% – as average.

• 55% of respondents say that parliament does not pass laws on issues that are important to them.
• 54% do not believe that even if they tell their deputy about the problem, they will try to solve it.
• Only 24% believe that MPS are in contact with citizens on a regular basis.

Is there democracy in Georgia?

According to the poll, 51% of the Georgian population believes that there is no democracy in the country, while 35% believe that there is democracy.

49% of respondents said that Georgia is developing in the wrong direction. For comparison, a year ago, in August 2020, only 32% thought so in the NDI poll.

23% are satisfied with development trends, and 19% believe that nothing is changing at all.

The majority supports Georgia’s NATO and EU membership

According to the poll, 76% of the Georgian population is in favor of Georgia’s membership in the European Union and 74% – membership in NATO.

Only 11% are against both.

47% will not get vaccinated, 35% will

47% of the population will not get vaccinated against coronavirus, 35% will. The rest are still undecided.

42% of respondents said they did not have enough information about coronavirus vaccinations and 56% do not know how to register to get it via the online platform.

Only 19.54% believe that they have enough information about it, 42% say that if necessary, they can register on the site.

4% of all respondents said they did not know at all that it was possible to get vaccinated.

Residents of Tbilisi were most informed about the vaccine.

Social media platforms are catching up with TV in popularity

One of the key findings of the NDI study is that social media as the main source of information has grown by 27% since 2014.

In 2014, social media was the main source of information for only 8% of the population. According to new research – but for 35% of the population this year.

Television is still the main source of information for the majority – 57% of respondents.

Although the distribution of preferences in Tbilisi is significantly different: TV is the main source of information for 42% of the population, while Internet / social networks – for 51%.