Page 10 - GEORptJul20

Only 19% of respondents said that the country was moving in the right direction, the lowest percentage seen in the past decade.
Moreover, only 30% said the government was performing well, and the number of Georgians who evaluate the government’s performance as “bad” has increased from 49% in March 2018 to 64% today.
The poll also concluded that 59% of Georgians believe their country is not a democracy, a sharp increase from the 40%-50% scores posted over the past decade (40% in April 2017).
The public’s perception of overall developments in Georgia (“country’s direction”) produced the weakest survey score in more than one decade. The previous highest result for “wrong direction” in the past 10 years was recorded in March 2016 (37%).
The survey also showed the popularity of the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream Party, billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, has continued to sink. Some 39% of Georgians reported having a negative attitude towards Ivanishvili in April 2019, compared to 49% in December. Only 17% reported having a positive attitude towards Ivanishvili while 29% said they were neutral towards him.
Ivanishvili’s main political rival, former president Mikheill Saakashvili, slightly outperformed Ivanishvili in the political ratings. Thirty-nine percent of respondents reported a negative attitude towards him, with 26% opting to state a positive attitude.
The Georgian Dream party firmly rejected the outcome of the poll.
NDI surveys are funded by with aid from the UK government. The survey was conducted by CRRC-Georgia from November 19 to December 13. The average margin of error was +/- 1.9%.
10​ GEORGIA Country Report ​July 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com