Georgian Parliament Speaker: GORBI poll confirms full public backing for current Parliament

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday hailed the results of the GORBI public opinion poll, which revealed 62 percent public trust in the 11th convocation Parliament, as a clear message to foreign critics.

In his remarks, Papuashvili emphasised that the survey reflected strong public support for the Parliament’s laws and reforms, countering attempts by external actors to act as “guardians” over Georgia.

“The main thing this survey showed me is the 62 percent trust that the Georgian people have in the Parliament. This should be a lesson for all those foreigners who talk to Georgia, the Georgian people, its Government, and its Parliament, or try to speak on behalf of the Georgian people. The Georgian people have responded through these survey results, stating that when someone tries to act as a guardian over the Georgian people, as if they cannot express their own opinions, the Georgian people have shown that the 11th convocation Parliament, its adopted laws, and implemented reforms are fully supported by its citizens and the Georgian people. So let them take these results and come to terms with them somehow”, the Speaker said.

Commenting on the opposition’s performance in the survey, Papuashvili expressed disappointment that the radical opposition, including non-parliamentary groups, retains some support despite past controversies, such as the “torture system” linked to former imprisoned President Mikheil Saakashvili.

“As for the opposition’s situation, it must be emphasised that it is unfortunate that the radical opposition, including the non-parliamentary opposition, still has a certain number of supporters. However, we observe that even after it became known what kind of torture system Saakashvili had created, people continued to vote for his party and the parties under his umbrella for years. This is also an unfortunate reality. However, the main result of this survey is that the Georgian Dream will convincingly win for the tenth time, and with this, Georgia’s national interests will triumph - a political force that serves the Georgian people and not other peoples, political groups, governments, or the like in other countries”, he noted.

The Georgian Opinion Research Business International (GORBI) conducted a nationwide public opinion survey commissioned by TV company Imedi. The study covered political and economic attitudes as well as public trust in state institutions.

One of the key questions posed to respondents was: “If parliamentary elections were held this week, which of the following parties would you vote for?”

The results were as follows:

• Georgian Dream – 56.2%
• Strong Georgia – Lelo for Government and Freedom – 10.7%
• For Georgia (Gakharia’s party) – 10.0%
• Coalition for Changes (Gvaramia, Melia, Girchi, Droa) – 9.5%
• United National Movement – 7.5%
• Girchi – 3.2%
• Alliance of Patriots of Georgia – 1.8%
• Other parties – 1.1%