(Read the full article on civil.ge)

A new public opinion poll, commissioned by the International Republican Institute and released on August 2, revealed that 62% of respondents believe Georgia is heading into the wrong direction (up from 59% in February), as opposed to 26% that say the country is going into the right direction (down from 30% in Feb 2021), CIVIL.GE reported.

The poll was coordinated by Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization for the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the fieldwork was carried out by the Institute of Polling and Marketing during June 15-30 period through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 respondents and has a margin of error of plus/minus 2.5%. The survey was funded by the US Agency for International Development.

As the poll was carried out in June, it does not take into account the unchecked homophobic violence of July 5-6 in Tbilisi, the suspicious death of cameraman Aleksandre Lashkarava, and the Georgian Dream’s decision of July 28 to withdraw from the EU-brokered April 19 agreement.

Major Issues – Economy Looms Large

16% of respondents said their households’ economic situation in the last 12 months worsened a lot, while 30% said it worsened somewhat. For 45% it remained the same, while it improved only for 7%.

Answering which are the most important problems Georgia faces today, unemployment was the first mention (out of two spontaneous answers) for 45%, followed by the cost of living/high prices was for 20% and poverty for 8%.

Regarding the most important problems facing their households, unemployment, cost of living and poverty got top first mentions with 28%, 25% and 8%, respectively followed by healthcare – 7%, pensions and housing with 3% each.

Local Elections

Asked which party they would vote for in the upcoming October 2, 2021 local elections, 28% named the ruling Georgian Dream party as their first choice, 15% named the United National Movement, former ruling party, and 9% named For Georgia party by ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. The latter enjoyed the highest 9% as the second choice.

18% of respondents said they don’t know, 6% refused to answer, and further 4% stated they would spoil the ballot.