DOCSLIB.ORG

Covid-19, Saakashvili and Elections

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Covid-19, Saakashvili and Elections WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 The Messenger P3 “Impartial, Informative, Insightful” GEL 3.00 The #171 (4728) Messenger WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 WWW.MESSENGER.COM.GE Facebook political ad spending in Georgia Facebook political advertising library was launched in Georgia on August 7. BY NATALIA KOCHIASHVILI ber parliamentary elections. According to of political parties that advertise on do not provide the required information, the report most political parties, leaders Facebook. It was followed by European even though the administrator of the acebook Ad Library became available and majoritarian candidates have suffi- Georgia – $30,782 of which about 52% pages may be connected to the party Fin Georgia on 7th of August, intro- ciently met the newly imposed criteria came from ads on the party’s Facebook members. For example, Davit Dugladze, ducing a new set of requirements for po- for political ads. ISFED says that there page and the rest from the party leaders’ who posts on ‘Support Zaza Dugladze’ and litical actors. The advertiser has to un- are certain parties that have yet to ad- official websites; Lelo – $21,747; Ruling ‘41 is my choice’ is the brother of a GD dergo an authorization process, declaring equately declare their information and Georgian Dream – $20,421; United Na- majoritarian candidate Zaza Dugladze. their identity and providing a “Paid for smear campaigns by anonymous tional Movement – $6,678 and Alliance The watchdog also identified 11 anony- by” disclaimer. Facebook pages are still common. of Patriots – $4,663. mous pages that sponsor posts aimed A local watchdog, International Soci- Political ads are not advertised by ISFED named parties that posted un- mostly at discrediting opposition parties. ety for Fair Elections and Democracy anonymous Facebook pages, which spon- declared ads, thus violating Facebook ad Thus, the issue of anonymous and fake (ISFED) reported on key political adver- sor posts mainly to discredit opposition policy: Free Georgia; Georgian March – media pages is still prevalent, with these tising trends on Facebook ahead of Octo- parties and their leaders. Despite National movement; Euro-Atlantic Vec- pages continuing to advertise without any Facebook’s mandatory authorization, tor; United Georgia – Democratic Move- declarations about funding and mostly anonymous discrediting sites continue to ment of ex-Speaker Nino Burjanadze; For targeting opposition parties. try to circumvent binding rules and pub- Justice of MP Eka Beselia. The watchdog notes that advertise- Opinion & Analysis lish political ads that bypass the trans- The Civil Society Organization also ments with political content on anony- parency standard. found that some parties, that mostly ad- mous and false media pages operating for Based on a recent Facebook report, equately declare their information, have the purpose of political discredit continue Covid-19, Saakashvili covering the period from August 4 to Sep- in some cases posted undeclared ads: to be published without declaration. Most tember 6, ISFED stated that approxi- European Georgia, the United National of them sponsor posts to discredit opposi- and elections mately $193,465 was spent on a total of movement and Aleko Elisashvili – Citi- tion parties and their leaders. On the 4,607 political ads in Georgia in that zens. pages run by Bakur Svanidze, which dis- FULL STORY ON Page 2 timeframe. According to the watchdog, even credits almost all other parties and The ‘Strategy Builder and Giorgi though the Georgian Dream usually fol- Economics Vashadze’ spent $47 800, topping the list lows the requirements, supporters’ pages CONTINUED ON Page 2 Foreign trade turnover down by 16.7% in Jan-August 2020 ADB Maintains Georgia’s Growth Outlook for 2021 at 4.5% FULL STORY ON Page 3 The largest amount of money was spent on Facebook in favour of Giorgi Vashadze, the prime ministerial candidate for the ‘Strategy Builder’ political advertisement - a total of $ 47,800 for 289 advertisements. P2 Opinion & Analysis The Messenger WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 presented a concrete plan for Covid-19, Saakashvili and elections governing the country, which he called ‘9 steps towards justice.’ It envisages the depoliticization BY MALKHAZ MATSABERIDZE of the police and penitentiary system and the achievement of ith the October 31st parlia- the independence of the judiciary. Wmentary elections ap- Saakashvili’s pre-election activ- proaching, the sharp rise in ity has alarmed not only the gov- Covid’s cases is a sign that the ernment but also a large part of elections will end in the wake of the opposition, which does not the second wave of the epidemic. consider itself a ‘Saakashvili The main event of the election camp’ and some of them have campaign so far, judging by the ambitions to become a ‘third number of comments and the force.’ According to them, degree of emotion of politicians, Saakashvili’s appearance in is the nomination of Saakashvili Georgian politics is an attempt as a candidate for Prime Minis- to restore ‘bipolarity,’ when vot- ter by the “National Movement”. ers will have to choose between In recent days, the number of Saakashvili and Ivanishvili cases of Covid-19 in the country again.Whatever the attitude to- has reached record levels for wards Saakashvili, the fact is Georgia and exceeds 40 cases per that he remains an influential day. The situation is especially figure in Georgian politics, with difficult in the Adjara region, the higher international recog- and due to the lack of places in nition and authority. hospitals, the decision was made By engaging Saakashvili in to place the mildly ill in hotels. the election campaign, the Three hotels in Tbilisi, United National Movement will Batumi and Kutaisi have already fully mobilize its constituency, been selected. The government while other opposition forces will Mikheil Saakashvili has been talking for a long time have to approve their ratings in about the prospect of a ‘second Levan Ioseliani, one of the lead- the ban on gathering more than the 1% threshold in proportional the upcoming elections. Espe- wave’ of the epidemic, and now ers of the Citizens party, the de- 200 people does not apply to the elections, which seems relatively cially those that were created that this wave may become a cisions of the Georgian Dream election campaign. easy to overcome. shortly before the elections, such reality, many feel that the gov- then and now serve the purposes In general, the opposition be- Mikheil Saakashvili, who was as Lelo or Citizen. ernment is not sufficiently pre- of the pre-election campaign. “In lieved that the coronavirus pan- nominated by the United Na- European Georgia, which se- pared to meet. The opposition and the spring they adopted the im- demic was “working” in favor of tional Movement as his candi- ceded from the United National experts in the field spoke directly age of a caring government, but the government, and a success- date for the post of Prime Minis- Movement after the 2016 parlia- about this. now that they know the nega- ful response to the epidemic ter, remains in the media spot- mentary elections and has not The opposition has long tive attitude of the people, they boosted the government’s rating. light. It has already become yet run in the elections, is in a claimed that the government is can no longer dare to impose the If the government finds it diffi- known about the election plans similar situation. They have to serving the purposes of the elec- same restrictions.” cult to control the ‘second wave’ of the third president of Georgia. explain to voters how they differ tion campaign to fight the epi- The government is not going now, it will cause dissatisfaction Saakashvili said he intends to from the National Movement, demic. On March 30th, 12 cases to postpone the elections and the in the society before the elec- arrive in Georgia after the elec- apart from the fact that of coronavirus were reported, existing election schedule will tions. tions, after the change of govern- Saakashvili and his leadership and on March 31st-7. The au- not change. According to Davit The CEC registered 66 parties ment, but categorically ruled out style are unacceptable to them. thorities then declared a state of Matikashvili, a representative of running in the October 31st par- destabilization of the situation The 66 parties running in the emergency, introduced a general the Georgian Dream, “we do not liamentary elections, but most and stressed that he handed elections have until September quarantine and activated the have the luxury of discussing the of these parties are unknown to over power to the Georgian 24th to form electoral blocs and curfew. postponement of elections de- the public and will not be able to Dream peacefully in 2012. Ac- then submit their party lists and Now that the number of new spite the pandemic.” The govern- campaign actively. Interested cording to Saakashvili, he is go- majoritarian candidates to the cases of the virus exceeds 40 per ment imposes some restrictions voters may even find it difficult ing to be the Prime Minister for CEC by October 1st. day, the government says that on the epidemic, but it is clari- to find some of these party pre- a maximum of two years, which the educational process in schools fied that this does not apply to election programs. These less will be enough to bring the coun- (Translated from Georgian can be resumed. According to campaign events; for example, known parties are counting on try out of the crisis. Saakashvili by Mariam Mchedlidze) Facebook political ad spending in Georgia CONTINUED FROM Page 1 on these pages. Some of them Facebook recognizes adver- key takeaways regarding tar- often by the representatives of have been suspended by tisements in social, electoral or geted audiences and demograph- the older age groups.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • News Digest on Georgia
    NEWS DIGEST ON GEORGIA November 28 – December 1 Compiled by: Aleksandre Davitashvili Date: December 2, 2019 Occupied Regions Tskhinvali Region (so called South Ossetia) 1. Another Georgian Sent to Pretrial Custody in Occupied Tskhinvali Georgian citizen Genadi Bestaev, 51, was illegally detained by the „security committee‟ (KGB) of Russia- backed Tskhinvali Region across the line of occupation, near Khelchua village, for “illegally crossing the state border” and “illegal drug smuggling” today. According to the local agency “Res,” Tskhinvali court sentenced Bestaev, native of village Zardiantkari of Gori Municipality, to two-month pretrial custody. According to the same report, in the past, Bastaev was detained by Russia-backed Tskhinvali authorities for “similar offences” multiple times (Civil.ge, November 29, 2019). Foreign Affairs 2. Citizens of Switzerland can enter Georgia with an ID card Citizens of Switzerland can enter Georgia with an ID card, Georgian PM has already signed an official document. „Citizens of Switzerland can enter Georgia on the basis of a travel document, as well as an identity document showing a person‟s name, surname, date of birth and photo,‟ the official document reads. The resolution dated by November 28, 2019, is already in force (1TV, December 1, 2019). Internal Affairs 3. Members of European Parliament on Developments in Georgia On November 27, the European Parliament held a debate on developments in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries at its plenary session in Strasbourg. Kati Piri (Netherlands, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats): “Large protests are currently held in Tbilisi since the government failed to deliver on its commitment to change the electoral code in 2020 to full proportional system.
    [Show full text]
  • Survey on Political Attitudes August 2020 Demographics 1. There Are A
    Survey on Political Attitudes August 2020 Demographics 1. There are a number of ethnic groups living in Georgia. Which ethnic group do you consider yourself a part of? [Interviewer! Do not read. One answer only.] Armenian 1 Azerbaijani 2 Georgian 3 Other Caucasian ethnicity (Abkhazian, Lezgin, Ossetian, etc.) 4 Russian 5 Kurd or Yezidi 6 Other ethnicity 7 (Don’t know) -1 (Refuse to answer) -2 2. What is the highest level of education you have achieved to date? [Interviewer! Do not read. Correspond.] 1 Did not obtain a nine year diploma 2 Nine year diploma 3 High school diploma (11 or 12 years) 4 Vocational/technical degree 5 Bachelor’s degree/5 years diploma 6 Any degree above bachelor’s (Don’t know) -1 (Refuse to answer) -2 3. Which of the following best describes your situation? Please tell me about the activity that you consider to be primary. [Interviewer! Read out. Only one answer that corresponds with the respondent’s main activity.] I am retired and do not work 1 I am a student and do not work 2 I am a housewife and do not work 3 I am unemployed 4 I work full or part-time, including seasonal 5 jobs I am self-employed, including seasonal jobs 6 I am disabled and cannot work 7 Other 8 (Don’t know) -1 (Refuse to answer) -2 4. How often do you use the Internet? Do you use the Internet … [READ OUT] Every day, 1 At least once a week, 2 At least once a month, 3 Less often, 4 or Never? 5 [DO NOT READ] I don’t know what the Internet is.
    [Show full text]
  • Analyzing the Russian Way of War Evidence from the 2008 Conflict with Georgia
    Analyzing the Russian Way of War Evidence from the 2008 Conflict with Georgia Lionel Beehner A Contemporary Battlefield Assessment Liam Collins by the Modern War Institute Steve Ferenzi Robert Person Aaron Brantly March 20, 2018 Analyzing the Russian Way of War: Evidence from the 2008 Conflict with Georgia Contents Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter I – History of Bad Blood ................................................................................................................ 13 Rose-Colored Glasses .............................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter II – Russian Grand Strategy in Context of the 2008 Russia-Georgia War ................................... 21 Russia’s Ends ........................................................................................................................................... 22 Russia’s Means ........................................................................................................................................ 23 Russia’s Ways .........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Revolutionary Tactics: Insights from Police and Justice Reform in Georgia
    TRANSITIONS FORUM | CASE STUDY | JUNE 2014 Revolutionary Tactics: Insights from Police and Justice Reform in Georgia by Peter Pomerantsev with Geoffrey Robertson, Jovan Ratković and Anne Applebaum www.li.com www.prosperity.com ABOUT THE LEGATUM INSTITUTE Based in London, the Legatum Institute (LI) is an independent non-partisan public policy organisation whose research, publications, and programmes advance ideas and policies in support of free and prosperous societies around the world. LI’s signature annual publication is the Legatum Prosperity Index™, a unique global assessment of national prosperity based on both wealth and wellbeing. LI is the co-publisher of Democracy Lab, a journalistic joint-venture with Foreign Policy Magazine dedicated to covering political and economic transitions around the world. www.li.com www.prosperity.com http://democracylab.foreignpolicy.com TRANSITIONS FORUM CONTENTS Introduction 3 Background 4 Tactics for Revolutionary Change: Police Reform 6 Jovan Ratković: A Serbian Perspective on Georgia’s Police Reforms Justice: A Botched Reform? 10 Jovan Ratković: The Serbian Experience of Justice Reform Geoffrey Robertson: Judicial Reform The Downsides of Revolutionary Maximalism 13 1 Truth and Reconciliation Jovan Ratković: How Serbia Has Been Coming to Terms with the Past Geoffrey Robertson: Dealing with the Past 2 The Need to Foster an Opposition Jovan Ratković: The Serbian Experience of Fostering a Healthy Opposition Russia and the West: Geopolitical Direction and Domestic Reforms 18 What Georgia Means: for Ukraine and Beyond 20 References 21 About the Author and Contributors 24 About the Legatum Institute inside front cover Legatum Prosperity IndexTM Country Factsheet 2013 25 TRANSITIONS forum | 2 TRANSITIONS FORUM The reforms carried out in Georgia after the Rose Revolution of 2004 were Introduction among the most radical ever attempted in the post-Soviet world, and probably the most controversial.
    [Show full text]
  • Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Georgia Today*
    Religion, State & Society, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2002 Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Georgia Today* MICHAEL OCHS Introduction Throughout the former Soviet Union, local religious establishments have strongly disapproved of preaching by representatives of religions considered 'nontraditional'. Religious leaders have prevailed upon politicians to limit the activities of such groups while enhancing the privileged role of the leading local faith. The Georgian Orthodox Church has also warned about the harmful impact of non traditional religions and sought a special status, but parliament has not passed a law on religion. Nor is Georgian Orthodoxy or its special status specifically protected in the constitution. On the other hand, Georgia is the only country in Eurasia where officially-condoned, organised mob violence against adherents of nontraditional faiths has developed into an ongoing problem. Jehovah's Witnesses have been the primary, though not the exclusive, target of this campaign. The country's political leadership is aware of the issue and of the concern expressed in foreign capitals as well as by Georgian and international human rights organisations. President Eduard Shevardnadze has openly condemned the attacks and pledged to uphold the rule of law, safeguard the rights of all believers and prosecute those who persecute them. Nevertheless, the Georgian authorities have been unable or unwilling to take effective steps to deter individuals and groups from assaulting Jehovah's Witnesses. Violence against them has continued since 1999, with no serious action taken against the perpetrators. Convinced that the Georgian authorities are not prepared to implement their inter­ national commitments and protect members of religious minorities, Jehovah's Wit­ nesses have filed two applications with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
    [Show full text]
  • Parliament of Georgia in 2019
    Assessment of the Performance of the Parliament of Georgia in 2019 TBILISI, 2020 Head of Research: Lika Sajaia Lead researcher: Tamar Tatanashvili Researcher: Gigi Chikhladze George Topouria We would like to thank the interns of Transparency International of Georgia for participating in the research: Marita Gorgoladze, Guri Baliashvili, Giorgi Shukvani, Mariam Modebadze. The report was prepared with the financial assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway Contents Research Methodology __________________________________________________ 8 Chapter 1. Main Findings _________________________________________________ 9 Chapter 2. General Information about the Parliament ____________________ 12 Chapter 3. General Statistics ____________________________________________ 14 Chapter 4. Important events ______________________________________________ 16 4.1 Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (chaired by Russian Duma Deputy Gavrilov) and a wave of protests _________________________________ 16 4.2 Failure of the proportional election system __________________________ 17 4.3 Election of Supreme Court judges ____________________________________ 19 4.4 Abolishing Nikanor Melia’s immunity and terminating his parliamentary mandate ________________________________________________________________ 20 4.5 Changes in the Composition of Parliamentary Subjects _______________ 20 4.6 Vote of Confidence in the Government _____________________________ 21 4.7 Report of the President ______________________________________________ 21 Chapter
    [Show full text]
  • Escaping the Kmara Box: Reframing the Role of Civil Society in Georgia's Rose Revolution Angley, Robyn E
    www.ssoar.info Escaping the Kmara Box: Reframing the Role of Civil Society in Georgia's Rose Revolution Angley, Robyn E. Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Angley, R. E. (2013). Escaping the Kmara Box: Reframing the Role of Civil Society in Georgia's Rose Revolution. Studies of Transition States and Societies, 5(1), 42-57. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-362472 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, non- Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses This document is solely intended for your personal, non- Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für commercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. all copyright information and other information regarding legal Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie document in public. dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder conditions of use. anderweitig nutzen.
    [Show full text]
  • Parliamentary Assembly Assemblée Parlementaire
    Parliamentary Assembly Assemblée parlementaire http://assembly.coe.int Doc. 13068 29 November 2012 Observation of the parliamentary elections in Georgia (1 October 2012) Election observation report Ad hoc Committee of the Bureau Rapporteur: Mr Luca VOLONTÈ, Italy, Group of the European People's Party Contents Page 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Political context ....................................................................................................................................... 2 3. Legal context........................................................................................................................................... 3 4. Election system....................................................................................................................................... 5 5. Candidate and voter registration............................................................................................................. 5 6. Election administration............................................................................................................................ 6 7. Election campaign and the media........................................................................................................... 7 8. Election day, vote count and results ....................................................................................................... 9 9. Conclusions .........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Weekly News Digest on Georgia March 16-22, 2021
    Compiled by: Aleksandre Weekly News Digest on Georgia Davitashvili March 16-22, 2021 Compiled on: March 23, 2021 Content Internal Affairs Internal Affairs Politics Politics 1. Parliament Endorses Education, Culture Ministry Split 1. Parliament Endorses The Parliament of Georgia with 79 votes in favor on March 16 unanimously Education, Culture Ministry Split approved splitting the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport into two 2. Key Watchdogs on GD, separate bodies. Citizens’ Draft Electoral The Ministry of Education and Science, on one hand, and the Ministry of Culture Amendments and Sport, on the other, will operate as independent Ministries. 3. “Georgia Must Deliver on The split has been anticipated since December 2020, with media reports claiming Justice, Electoral that the Georgian Dream MP and former Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani was Reforms,” HR Borell Tells PM Garibashvili expected to head the new Culture and Sport Ministry (Civil.ge, March 16, 2021). 4. EU top official Borrell: 2. Key Watchdogs on GD, Citizens’ Draft Electoral Amendments political actors in On March 16, ISFED and TI Georgia, key local election watchdogs said in their Georgia should put joint assessment of the draft election amendments, initiated earlier in March interest of people first, after the ruling Georgian Dream party and the Citizens’ agreement, that find compromises proposed changes left some persisting issues unaddressed. 5. CSOs Propose Judicial Reform Concept International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and Transparency 6. “NATO Expects Georgia International (TI) Georgia said that as per the bill, the boycotting opposition to Uphold Democratic parties will remain unable to nominate members to the election administrations, Standards,” Stoltenberg as the amendments envisage that only parties who have at least one active MP Tells Georgian PM and receive state funding are allowed be represented at the election 7.
    [Show full text]
  • Download [Pdf]
    This project is co-funded by the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development of the European Union EU Grant Agreement number: 290529 Project acronym: ANTICORRP Project title: Anti-Corruption Policies Revisited Work Package: WP3, Corruption and governance improvement in global and continental perspectives Title of deliverable: D3.2.7. Background paper on Georgia Due date of deliverable: 28 February 2014 Actual submission date: 28 February 2014 Author: Andrew Wilson Editor: Alina Mungiu-Pippidi Organization name of lead beneficiary for this deliverable: Hertie School of Governance Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Seventh Framework Programme Dissemination Level PU Public X PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services) RE Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services) Co Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services) Georgia Background Report Andrew Wilson University College London January 2014 ABSTRACT Georgia had a terrible reputation for corruption, both in Soviet times and under the presidency of Eduard Shevardnadze (1992-2003). After the ‘Rose Revolution’ that led to Shevardnadze’s early resignation, many proclaimed that the government of new President Mikheil Saakashvili was a success story because of its apparent rapid progress in fighting corruption and promoting neo-liberal market reforms. His critics, however, saw only a façade of reform and a heavy hand in other areas, even before the war with Russia in 2008. Saakashvili’s second term (2008-13) was much more controversial – his supporters saw continued reform under difficult circumstances, his opponents only the consolidation of power. Under Saakashvili Georgia does indeed deserve credit for its innovative reforms that were highly successful in reducing ‘low-level’ corruption.
    [Show full text]
  • Refreshing Georgia's Courts
    Refreshing Georgia’s Courts Trial by jury: More democracy or a face-lift for the judiciary? In Georgia the judiciary has traditionally been viewed as one of the most corrupt institutions, best avoided at any opportunity. Hence the need for judicial reform has always ranked high on the government’s agenda, from the Shevardnadze era to the present. Public distrust of the judiciary has become a sort of tradition. After decades of Soviet rule and its rubber stamp judiciary, the initial years of independence that threw the country into chaos and civil war did little to reinforce trust in the courts or judges. While judicial reforms have been ongoing since the mid 1990s, much progress has yet to be made. Above all, the Georgian public has yet to be convinced that judges are indeed immune from special interests and influence and can justly apply the law. As a recent survey of Georgian voters1 suggests, the public believes that the judiciary is the second most important sphere (after the economy) in need of reform. Twenty-two percent of those surveyed ranked the judiciary as the single most important reform priority, 16% and 15% - as second and third priority respectively. The same study conducted in 2006 also ranked the judiciary as second most in need of reform, following the economy. In the 2006 study 16% ranked it as the most important reform priority and 17% and 14%, respectively, as a second and third priority. The courts also feature towards the bottom of the institutional trust list, with only 23% having a favourable view of this institution, opposed to a 64% unfavourable attitude in 2007.
    [Show full text]
  • Georgia Public Opinion Barometer 2006 Tbilisi 2006
    Nana Sumbadze Georgia Public Opinion Barometer 2006 Tbilisi 2006 This survey was funded by the Human Rights and Governance Grants Program (HRGGP) of the Open Society Institute. Contact information: Institute for Policy Studies. Chavchavadze Av.0, entrance VI. 079 Tbilisi Georgia Tel: (9953)-0060; (9953)-9743. Fax: (9953)-0060. e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ips.ge Full text of the report can be found at: www.ips.ge Cover and design: Gio Sumbadze Contents Foreword ................................................................................4 Major findings........................................................................ 6 Results ..................................................................................4 The sample and methodology...............................................4 Democracy building .............................................................6 Participation..............................................................6 Rule of law, equality and trust..................................7 Local elections and political preferences.................. Media........................................................................ 5 Governance............................................................................8 External orientation ..............................................................38 Poverty .................................................................................4 Estimation of economic condition of the household 4 Incomes and expenditures ........................................4 Property
    [Show full text]