Struggling for public opinion
By M. Alkhazashvili
(Translated by Diana Dundua)
(Translated by Diana Dundua)
Wednesday, December 5
As election campaigns supposedly got into full swing this week, with United National Movement candidate Mikheil Saakashvili officially launching his re-election bid on Monday, a poll released at the weekend predicting Misha will breeze to a first-round win has courted controversy amongst the opposition.
The poll—commissioned by the incumbent administration, carried out by the Business Consulting Group (BCG) Georgia, and broadcast on government-friendly Rustavi 2 TV—foresees Saakashvili obtaining 54 percent of the vote on January 5, with United Opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze trailing way behind with a meager 15 percent.
The opposition reacted wildly after Rustavi 2 aired the results, with Labor activists rallying outside the station’s headquarters to condemn the “false public opinion survey.” Conservative leader Kakha Kukava added to the clamor: “This rating was created by the administration itself and is part of their campaign,” he cried.
BCG was founded by Central Elections Committee chairman Levan Tarkhnishvili, whose wife is currently the organization’s director. The opposition have repeatedly accused Tarkhnishvili of close connections with the government.
The opposition’s complaints are grounded somewhat by the fact that the TV report on the poll was aired while Imedi TV, a channel unfriendly to the government, was still off air (the government is due to lift restrictions on it today).
But surely for the opposition, the best defense is offense? There is nothing stopping them commissioning a poll themselves, and if they can prove it was conducted fairly with a minimal margin of error, they are perfectly within their rights to assert it a better indication of the way people are likely to vote.
With media pluralism likely to be restored by next week, the opposition’s grounds for complaining that the government has an unfair advantage in the campaign season are diminishing.
Whether the government is employing dirty tactics or not—and this cannot be easily proved one way or the other—should soon become a side story for the opposition’s campaign.
When the United National Council, a coalition of opposition groups, formally unveiled their campaign platform on Monday, they had insufficient press releases to distribute to the journalists present. Citing “lack of internet access”, they failed to supply the Messenger with their list of “key priorities” later that day.
Media restriction has been a thorn in the side of all opposition figures since snap presidential elections were announced on November 8. But more of a “can-do” attitude would certainly help some of them mount a more effective bid for the top.
After all, if a prospective government cannot deliver its campaign platform properly, how is it going to convince voters it can deliver its promises when it attains power?
The poll—commissioned by the incumbent administration, carried out by the Business Consulting Group (BCG) Georgia, and broadcast on government-friendly Rustavi 2 TV—foresees Saakashvili obtaining 54 percent of the vote on January 5, with United Opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze trailing way behind with a meager 15 percent.
The opposition reacted wildly after Rustavi 2 aired the results, with Labor activists rallying outside the station’s headquarters to condemn the “false public opinion survey.” Conservative leader Kakha Kukava added to the clamor: “This rating was created by the administration itself and is part of their campaign,” he cried.
BCG was founded by Central Elections Committee chairman Levan Tarkhnishvili, whose wife is currently the organization’s director. The opposition have repeatedly accused Tarkhnishvili of close connections with the government.
The opposition’s complaints are grounded somewhat by the fact that the TV report on the poll was aired while Imedi TV, a channel unfriendly to the government, was still off air (the government is due to lift restrictions on it today).
But surely for the opposition, the best defense is offense? There is nothing stopping them commissioning a poll themselves, and if they can prove it was conducted fairly with a minimal margin of error, they are perfectly within their rights to assert it a better indication of the way people are likely to vote.
With media pluralism likely to be restored by next week, the opposition’s grounds for complaining that the government has an unfair advantage in the campaign season are diminishing.
Whether the government is employing dirty tactics or not—and this cannot be easily proved one way or the other—should soon become a side story for the opposition’s campaign.
When the United National Council, a coalition of opposition groups, formally unveiled their campaign platform on Monday, they had insufficient press releases to distribute to the journalists present. Citing “lack of internet access”, they failed to supply the Messenger with their list of “key priorities” later that day.
Media restriction has been a thorn in the side of all opposition figures since snap presidential elections were announced on November 8. But more of a “can-do” attitude would certainly help some of them mount a more effective bid for the top.
After all, if a prospective government cannot deliver its campaign platform properly, how is it going to convince voters it can deliver its promises when it attains power?