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Poll: Majority Disapproves PM’s Intention to Quit

71% of respondents disapprove PM Bidzina Ivanishvili’s intention to step down after the October 27 presidential election, according to a recent poll commissioned by U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI) and released on September 23.

18% of respondents said they approve Ivanishvili’s intention, according to the poll, which was fielded by the Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) from August 18 through September 3.

The poll was part of a broader survey looking into public attitudes towards various policy and current issues, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The survey was conducted through nationwide face-to-face interview with 3,838 respondents and has margin of error of plus, minus 2%.

The survey also includes political ratings, but this part of the poll will be made public on September 26.

Compared to previous, similar survey, number of those who think that Georgia is moving in the right direction has declined from 45% in June to 39% in the recent poll; the figure stood at 58% in March, 2013.

According to the recent poll 44% of respondents think that Georgia is a democracy now, a six percentage point increase since June; another 44% of respondents think that Georgia is not a democracy.

64% of respondents either completely or somewhat agree with a statement that the current government is making the changes that matter to them, statistically the same to June poll; the figure stood at 71% in March.

Number of respondents, who think that if UNM was in charge it would make the changes that matter to them, has increased from 20% in June to 26% in late August and early September; 55% of respondents disagree.

The survey shows that jobs remain the number one concern for most of the respondents (61%), followed by territorial integrity (35%) and affordable healthcare (29%).

Only 43% of respondents are aware about drafts of constitutional amendments, which have been tabled in the Parliament for consideration.

51% approve a draft of constitutional amendment, which, if adopted, will pave the way for relocation of the Parliament from Kutaisi to Tbilisi (the draft has not yet been debated in the Parliament).

48% approve a constitutional amendment, which cuts some of PM’s powers vis-à-vis parliament and which has already been passed unanimously by the Parliament with its first reading.

34% are in favor of a constitutional amendment, which, if passed, will keep threshold for passing any new constitutional change at current two-thirds majority instead of its increase to three-fourths majority; 22% are against of the proposal and 43% responded that they did not know.

Minority Rights

61% of respondents say that protection of minority rights is important; 7% gave a negative response.

When asked about specific minority groups, majority of respondents said that protection of ethnic and religious minorities is important (62% and 56%, respectively).

But it’s the other way around when it comes to sexual minority rights.

Only 15% of respondents said that protection of sexual minorities’ rights is important and 58% responded negatively.

Foreign Policy

Number of respondents who are “dissatisfied” with Georgia’s current relations with Russia increased to from 63% in June to 70%; the figure stood at 49% in March.

36% think that Russia is “a threat to Georgia, but it is exaggerated” and 33% think it is “a real and existing threat”; number of respondents to say that Russia is “no threat to Georgia at all” increased from 20% in June to 25%.

76% approve Georgia’s decision to participate in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

75% are in favor of re-establishing railway link with Russia via breakaway Abkhazia.

81% and 73% support Georgia’s membership to the European Union and NATO, respectively.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)

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