Tbilisi, Georgia – IRI today released its latest poll of Georgian public opinion. The poll, conducted November 9 – 21, 2012, is a comprehensive analysis of attitudes regarding the current Georgian economic, social and political landscape.
This is the first nationwide poll that IRI has conducted since the October 1 parliamentary elections. With the new government in place, the primary concern of the electorate continues to be unemployment at 46 percent (down five percent from July 2012), followed by the general economic situation at 15 percent. The previous number two concern, return of lost territories, fell from 18 to 12 percent. Along the same lines, citizens think that the government should address economic and healthcare reform as top policy priorities (34 percent of first choice responses for economic reform, 24 percent for healthcare reform). Moreover, 25 percent stated that their main expectation of the new government is that they will overcome the unemployment problem in the country.
Following the victory of the Georgian Dream Coalition, respondents indicated overwhelmingly that they would now like to see their local governors become popularly elected (polled by region, with a low of 83 percent in Imereti, and a high of 97 percent in Kakheti). Nationwide, 87 percent wanted to see their local government have more control over its finances and programs.
IRI has been conducting polls in Georgia since May 2003, prior to the Rose Revolution. The data collected is used both to gauge public opinion, and to assist IRI’s political party partners with building platforms based on the issues of greatest concern to the Georgian people.
The randomly selected sample of 1,500 men and women of voting age was collected nationwide. The study was designed and analyzed by Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization, and was fielded by the Institute for Polling and Marketing under the supervision of IRI. The margin of error for the national sample does not exceed plus or minus 2.5 percent with a response rate of 72 percent.
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