Opposition Continues Attacks on Exit Polls
The nine-party opposition coalition has again attacked the planned exit polls, calling on foreign diplomats to persuade the Georgian authorities to abandon them.
Although the authorities formally have nothing to do with the exit polls, the opposition claims that organizations conducting them are all affiliated with the authorities. Exit polls have been commissioned by four television stations – the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB), Rustavi 2 TV, Mze TV and (the state-run) Adjara TV. They will be managed by four separate organizations – the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), Ilia Chavchavadze State University and two think-tanks – the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) and the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS).
“We ask foreign diplomats to stop the artificial escalation of tension in the country; tension may be caused by the announcement of the exit poll results of the four Georgian TV stations commissioned by the Georgian authorities,” Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party, part of the nine-party opposition coalition backing Levan Gachechiladze’s presidential bid, said on January 4. She was speaking with journalists after meeting with a group of foreign diplomats accredited in Tbilisi.
Meanwhile, GFSIS, one of the think-tanks involved in the exit polls, said in a statement on January 3 that the main goal of the exit polls was to increase the transparency of the upcoming election. “GFSIS hopes that whatever the election results are, figures released from the exit polls will not be used by opposing sides for their political ends,” the statement said.
Organizers of the exit polls have also set up a monitoring group and invited all election stakeholders, and observers, to send representatives to observe the entire process, including data processing.
