On 12 August, the International Republican Institute released their public opinion polls for Georgia, highlighting the key socio-economic issues in the country since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In relation to the pandemic and the government's response to it, 41% of those surveyed were very satisfied and 38% somewhat satisfied, with only 7% unsatisfied with the results the current Georgian government has achieved. Georgia’s public institutions in dealing with the pandemic were ranked in order of efficiency with the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) as the best rated institution (64% of the questioned said that its work was very effective). This was followed by the Ministry of Health (55%) and the Office of the Prime Minister (49%), while the Georgian parliament had the worst rating (23%). In terms of which country helped Georgia most in dealing with the pandemic, the USA was the most frequent answer (47%), followed by China (6%) and the EU (4%).
Speaking on all the current issues Georgia is facing, 46% of the questioned said that unemployment is the main issue in the country, followed by cost of living/high prices (17%), poverty (10%), other economic issues (6%) and the Covid-19 pandemic (4%). As the biggest success of the current Georgian government, the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic was named (25%), followed by healthcare reform (7%) and freedom of speech (3%). On the other hand, false promises (9%), economic decline (7%) unemployment and the 20 June 2019 events (both 6%) were named as the current government’s biggest failures. The most trusted institutions and organizations in the country, in general, were the Georgian army (89%), the Patriarchate (85%) and the media (71%), while trade unions (25%), governors (30%) and courts (32%) had the worst rating.
In context of Georgia’s internal political scene, 42% of the questioned said that the political parties, their candidates, as well as the programme would be the most important factor for determining their votes for the upcoming elections. More specifically, 62% said that economic policy was the key component of the parties’ pre-election programme which would determine their votes, followed by healthcare and social security policy (49%) and foreign policy (15%), vision for judicial reform and education policy (both 12%).
In terms of popularity of the political parties, 33% of those surveyed would support the ruling Georgian Dream (2% second choice), followed by the United National Movement (16% first choice, 4% second), European Georgia-Free Democrats (5%, 6%) and the Alliance of Patriots (3%, 5%). The most popular public figures in the country were the Georgian Patriarch Ilia II (89% had a favourable opinion), followed by the NCDC General Director Amiran Gamkrelidze (74%) and the Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia (63%), while the most unpopular public figures were the leader of the Girchi Party Zurab Japaridze (13% favourable opinion), co-founder of the TBC Bank and Vice President of the Lelo party Badri Japharidze (14%), and the Georgian Dream parliamentarian Eka Beselia (17%).
