Majority of Tbilisi’s residents assess government’s anti-corruption efforts as “effective”

77 percent of Tbilisi’s population thinks that the Georgian government has been “effective” or “extremely” effective in fighting corruption, according to a survey released by Transparency International Georgia on December 9. The survey, conducted in frames of Global Corruption Barometer 2010, reflects the opinion of people in 86 countries around the world. The public opinion poll was conducted by Gobi between June 15 and 24 and 500 residents of Tbilisi were interviewed.

According to TI Georgia, compared to other countries included in the poll, Georgia has the highest rate of respondents saying that the government’s actions to fight corruption have been “effective” or “extremely effective.” At the same time, Georgia has the highest rate of people stating that corruption has “decreased a lot” or “decreased” during the last three years (78 percent of interviewees in Georgia, compared to the 48 percent of the runner up Kenya). TI Georgia reported that only 9 percent of the people surveyed said that corruption has increased (a lot) in the past three years in Georgia.

The survey has shown that 56 percent of respondents in Tbilisi see the government as the most trusted institution in combating corruption in the country, while only 2 percent named the media as the most trusted in this respect. 1.6 percent of the participants of the public opinion poll believed the private sector could play this role, TI Georgia reported.

Eka Gigauri, Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia said the public’s view on corruption is important, as they show how corruption affects the lives of people in Georgia and around the world. “If we compare the results of the 2010 survey to results from 2004, we see that citizens’ trust in institutions such as the police, the military, parliament, political parties, the media, the church, NGOs and the private sector has increased. However, political parties and the judiciary remain the institutions that are perceived as most corrupt,” she noted.