According to the results of a survey conducted by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in March 2023, neither political party in Georgia represents the interests of 64% of the population.
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When asked if there is at least one party in Georgia that represents their views, only 24% of respondents answered that such a party exists, a record low. According to 64%, there is no such party, 9% are undecided, and 2% declined to answer.
It should be noted that 14% of Georgian Dream supporters and 36% of supporters of opposition parties believe that no political party represents their interests. The distrust towards parties is especially pronounced in the younger age group (18-34-year-old population) - only 15% say that at least one political party resonates with them. In the results of the December 2022 survey, this figure was higher, at 23%.
According to the survey, almost half of the population - 47% believe that the ruling party Georgian Dream does not act in the interests of the people and the country. Even more - 61% think the same about the opposition parties elected in the parliament and local self-governments.
Georgian Dream has the most supporters in the 55+ age group and the least among 18-34-year-olds. The same is true for the United National Movement, the largest opposition party in Georgia. It is the young people who make up the majority of citizens who say that no party stands close to their views.
On the question, if the parliamentary elections were held tomorrow, which party would you vote for, the answers were distributed as follows: 34% - none, 26% - undecided, 20% - Georgian Dream, 9% - refusal to answer, 5% - United National Movement, 6% - other parties.
As the authors of the study note, the individual counts of support for the parties are so low that they cannot be used to predict the results of the elections.
Georgian citizens still strongly support close political (54%) and economic (52%) cooperation with the European Union. However, despite such aspirations, according to the majority of the population, the Georgian government is not doing enough for the country to join the European Union.
One in two citizens (51%) says that they do not trust any Georgian TV channel, which is a significant increase after 2019 when this figure was 20 percent.
Survey data also indicate the desire for more women to participate in politics. This is evidence that citizens want to make changes in the political discourse and agenda. Compared to 2014, the number of people who think that female and male politicians equally represent their interests has increased (from 48% to 56%). Now, fewer people (only 16%) believe that male politicians represent the collective views of the citizens better than female politicians. It should also be noted that more and more people are in favor of equal distribution of women and men in parliament.
The study is based on the results of a nationwide telephone survey of the adult population of Georgia (excluding the occupied territories) during March 17-23. The survey includes 1032 interviews. The average margin of error for the survey is +/- 2 percent.
NDI's research is funded by UK aid of the UK government. The field study was conducted by CRRC Georgia.
