Page 11 - GEORptSep19

2.5 Polls & Sociology
Georgians to get jobs legally in Germany in 2020
Poll shows Georgia’s opposition parties would win parliamentary elections if held now
A law allowing residents of Georgia to be employed legally in Germany will go into force in six to seven months, Elguja Khokrishvili, ambassador of Georgia to Germany, has said in an interview with Evening’s Newsroom broadcast by PalitraNews TV.
“The German Bundestag and later the upper chamber [the Bundesrat] passed the law, which will go into force in six to seven months, allowing citizens of Georgia to be employed legally in German. The citizens of Georgia will have the right to find an employer in Germany in advance and then to obtain the job visa. In addition, they will be given a simplified opportunity to find a professional training place, go to Germany and get professional training. This law also enables people to stay in Germany for six months and find a job. We are working on the translation of the law in order to provide this information to citizens of Georgia”, the ambassador said.
“When the crop season comes, the German companies look for workers to employ them for three months. We will examine their living conditions, their health insurance, who will pay for transport, how much they will be paid, the minimum salary, etcetera. We have communicated with several companies who are ready to select 3,000-10,000 people according to relevant criteria next year for seasonal employment ", Khokrishvili added.
Georgia’s main opposition parties United National Movement (UNM) and European Georgia would win 29% of the vote in parliamentary elections if they were held now, 3pp more than ruling party Georgian Dream headed by Bidzina Ivanishvili, according to a poll conducted by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research from May 20 to June 11 and quoted by ipn.ge.
Nonetheless, 55% of respondents declined to give an answer on their favoured party for government. The survey has an error margin of 2.5pp.
UNM, the party of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, was only 4pp behind Georgian Dream in the poll. The more moderate European Georgia was third with electoral support of 7%.
Other parties were recorded as enjoying very modest support but they would likely gain MPs under the no-threshold model for proportional representation proposed by the government for the parliamentary elections next year. Their results were: Alliance of Patriots - 5%; the Labor Party – 5%; the Public Movement - 2%; the Democratic Movement- United Georgia - 2%; the Movement for Building – 2 %; Girchi – 1 %; others – 1 %. Some 22% of people that provided an answer conceded they had made no final decision yet.
Under the zero-threshold model, a party actually needs the votes of 0.67% of the electorate to appoint an MP.
11 GEORGIA Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com