ISSA survey: Up to 60% of respondents support protests, 76.3% support...
According to the survey: The majority of respondents (up to 62%)
indicate that the country is moving in the wrong direction. 82.1% of
respondents consider the current situation in the country to be a
political crisis, while up to 78% hold the Georgian Dream party
primarily responsible for the political crisis. The population
identifies the following as the most acute problems facing the
country: a) high prices and b) unemployment. In addition, the
following are among the acute problems: emigration of Georgians, the
spread/use of drugs, poverty, unfairly conducted parliamentary
elections, crime and insecurity, etc. 67.1% consider the statement
made by Irakli Kobakhidze on November 28, 2024, about suspending
European integration until 2028 unacceptable. The majority (up to 55%)
believes that the Georgian Dream’s foreign policy serves the
interests of Russia/countries close to Russia (China, Iran, etc.). In
addition, 30.1% believe that the Georgian Dream pursues a balanced
foreign policy and does not specifically pursue the interests of any
country. Only 7% are convinced that the Georgian Dream is on the path
of integration with the West (Europe, USA) and Western structures (EU,
NATO). The majority of respondents (up to 67%) negatively assess the
severance of strategic relations with the USA. Georgia’s accession
to the European Union is supported by a large majority – 86.3%, and
NATO – by 74.2%. Despite this, more than half of the respondents (up
to 53%) are in favor of Georgia not joining any political/military
international structure and maintaining neutrality. The majority of
the population (54.2%) finds the statements of the Georgian Dream
about the anti-Georgian influence of the “Deaf State” and the
“Global War * Party” unconvincing; a quarter (25.3%) finds it
difficult to express a position on the credibility of these
statements. Up to 60% of respondents support the ongoing protests in
Georgia; 45% of respondents are active supporters of the protests. The
October 26, 2024 elections were held unfairly, according to
approximately 43% of respondents, and according to an additional 16%
– equally fair and unfair (“50/50”). More than half of the
respondents (51.3%) declare that they voted for an opposition
political force in the elections, while approximately a third (32%)
confirm that they voted for the “Georgian Dream”. Up to 17% do not
reveal their choice. Up to 48% consider the presence of the
“Georgian Dream” in power illegal/illegitimate, and 39.2% consider
it legal/legitimate. The majority agrees with the main demands of the
ongoing protests; in particular, 62% support the appointment of new
parliamentary elections, and 76.3% – the release of prisoners. In
the event of new parliamentary elections being called, the vast
majority (within 80%) have a high willingness to participate. Among
those who do not rule out participating in new elections, support for
the Georgian Dream (by allocation) is 31.5%. The majority of
respondents (up to 55%) do not share the view that if the Georgian
Dream does not remain in power, the risk of Georgia getting involved
in a war with Russia will increase. 35.5% of respondents see such a
risk more or less; however, only 15.3% are sure of this. When
assessing the activities/events of various actors in recent months,
the most positive attitude is towards the activities of Salome
Zurabishvili (49%). The share of those who positively assess the
activities of non-governmental organizations in recent months (up to
36%) exceeds the share of those who evaluate them negatively (up to
30%). Those who negatively assess the activities of opposition
political parties after the October 26 elections (up to 38%) outnumber
those who positively assess them (33.2%); while more than half (53.2%)
negatively assess the activities of the Georgian Dream after the
October 26 elections. A negative assessment was received by the
election of Mikheil Kavelashvili as President of Georgia (57.2%). Up
to 52% of respondents consider the sanctions imposed by the US against
Bidzina Ivanishvili to be fair, and almost the same number – against
senior officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Respondents
mainly receive information about the socio-political events in the
country from Georgian television channels and social media. Among
television channels, Imedi (up to 42%), Main Channel (up to 38%) and
TV Pirveli (33.4%) are in the lead by a small margin. Among social
media, Facebook is the undisputed leader. The quantitative study was
conducted by the Institute for Social Research and Analysis (ISSA).
Fieldwork was conducted between January 18-30, 2025, and 2,000
respondents were interviewed face-to-face. The adult (18+) population
of Georgia was surveyed. The margin of error is +- 2.2%, with a 95%
confidence level. The Institute for Social Research and Analysis
(ISSA) is a research organization that has been operating since 2000.
The organization conducts both quantitative and qualitative research.