Europe Foundation study finds that judiciary and political parties are least trusted
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, September 25
According to a “CRRC Georgia” study commissioned by the European Foundation, Georgians are increasingly less reliant on key social and political institutions such as the President, Prime Minister, Parliament or political parties. As the authors of the study point out, there are often striking differences between the values of ethnic minorities, the rural and the Georgian-speaking population, or in the habitants of the capital city.
According to the study, compared to 2009, when 57% of the population expressed an interest in both domestic and foreign policy, in 2019 the corresponding share was reduced to 46%. 35% of ethnic minorities say they care about Georgia's domestic policy, 33% - about Georgia's foreign policy.
As the 11-year dynamics of the European Fund's polls show, the level of trust of the Georgian population towards political, public or international institutions and associations is declining. Only three institutions - Georgian Army (77%), Religious Institutions (74%), and Police (51%) showed relatively high levels of public confidence in 2019.
The level of mistrust towards Georgia's governing bodies and institutions is in some cases very high, which, according to the authors of the study, is an important consideration.
In 2019, 19% of the population responded that they trust the Parliament when 35% does not.
PM is trusted by 24%; 37% doesn’t trust him. 27% the President trusts while 37% does not. Public confidence in local government is higher than central: 35% of population trusts and 25% do not trust it
The level of trust towards NGOs and the media is equal to 27%; 24% declares distrust to NGO’s and 19% to media. 37% of the population responds that they trust the Public Defender, and 13% doesn’t. 31% of the population trusts banks, while 34% responds that they do not trust them.
Of the 16 organizations with the highest levels of trust in the population, the least trusted are the Georgian judiciary (17% trust, 43% disbelieve) and political parties (13% trust, 40% disbelieve).
The public opinion survey conducted by CRRC Georgia, commissioned by the European Foundation, also assesses the knowledge and attitudes of the Georgian population towards the EU.
According to the survey, two years had elapsed since the time the poll was conducted in 2019 after Georgian citizens enjoyed visa-free travel with the Schengen countries.
However, according to the survey, the results of the 2019 poll show that the Georgian population's knowledge of visa liberalization conditions is significantly worse than in 2017: The share of Georgian population who responds that in order to travel visa-free ensured financial situation must be confirmed declined by 13%;
Compared to the previous poll results, the share of the population who responded that travelers should have proof of residence abroad when crossing the border has decreased by 8%.
In the case of other visa liberalization requirements, such as biometric passport (78% -78%), travel insurance (24% -25%), and return ticket (40% -36%) in Georgia, the data for 2017 and 2019 do not differ.
As in 2017, the results of the 2019 poll unequivocally indicate a lack of knowledge of ethnic minorities about visa liberalization. Between 2017 and 2019, 42% and 37% of ethnic minorities (respectively) said they did not know which documents a Georgian citizen would for so-called visa-free travel in the Schengen area - for comparison, the proportion of Georgians who did not answer this question was 16% in 2019.
There was a question regarding the work permit in the poll: “Do you think Georgian citizens will be allowed to work in EU countries as a result of visa-free travel?”
In 2017, only a quarter of the population answered yes to this question, and in 2019, 40%. In this case, the level of knowledge of the Georgian-speaking population is reduced: from 62% to 44%, while the level of knowledge of ethnic minorities has not changed.
As the authors of the study point out, the results of the 2019 poll show that the level of knowledge of the Georgian population about visa liberalization requirements has not improved compared to 2017, and in some cases has deteriorated significantly. The level of knowledge of the Georgian-speaking population and ethnic minorities varies significantly, indicating the need to update or strengthen the targeted information campaign on visa liberalization.
Vano Chkhikvadze, manager of the European Integration Program of the Open Society - Georgia Foundation, said that the findings of the survey are related to the government's communication channels. According to him the communication channels and messages that the government probably need to be looked at in this regard.
Chkhikvadze stated that according to the EU recommendation, communication with the population should not focus only on benefits – “There is a need for negative examples: 'they went abroad and sought asylum, but they were rejected and other examples.' Until now, there has been mostly positive communication… Official messages far outweigh the alleged examples of some Georgian citizens breaking a 90-day deadline, seeking asylum, staying and then sending money (working underground),”- Chkhikvadze commented. According to him, on the one hand, the difficult economic situation must be taken into consideration, which forces Georgian citizens to seek asylum abroad, and on the other hand, communication with different layers of the population needs to be improved.
The 6th wave of the European Fund Survey was conducted in March 2019. The survey results are representative of the adult population of Georgia, except for the occupied territories. As for the research methodology, 2,746 face-to-face interviews were conducted using the Tablet PC (CAPI method). The survey was conducted by CRRC Georgia, with the support of the European Foundation, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Danish International Development Agency (Danida).
