Page 10 - GEORptJul19

Jobs, poverty top Georgians’ agenda
clan should leave the judiciary.
The survey was commissioned by Transparency International Georgia and was conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) in the period from February 20 to March 5, 2019. A total of 2,087 respondents were interviewed nationwide. The survey has a margin of error of 2.3%.
Finding a job is ranked by 51% of Georgians as among their top three issues, followed by poverty (32%) and rising prices (28%), with all three major concerns demonstrating households’ poor economic conditions, according to a US National Democratic Institute (NDI) poll carried out in December.
Support for Georgia taking Nato and EU membership remains robust, but the issue of joining the bloc is seen as rather unimportant, the survey also concluded. Nato membership was mentioned among the top issues by only 4% of respondents, while European Union membership ranked even lower at 2%.
Territorial integrity was seen as a much more important problem, regarded by 24% of respondents as a key issue, given that Georgia has breakaway territories that are defended by Russian armed forces.
Notably, issues related to democracy were mentioned by rather few respondents. Only 4% saw problems related to the court system, although 8% wanted a revamp of the judiciary. Primary concerns related to poverty were the pressing matters.
Some 83% of respondents supported Georgia's integration into the EU, with 9% against. As for Nato, 78% supported membership while 13% did not.
The majority of those responding to the opinion poll said the judiciary was developing in the wrong direction. A total of 30% said there had been no changes in the judiciary they could point to, and only 16% thought that the system was developing in the right direction.
10 GEORGIA Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com