Polling results of Presidential election

The exact date of Presidential election is not yet known. However, the Georgian state constitution stipulates that October is the month that the elections should be held. Polling has been carried out by the International Republican Institute (IRI) in May/June over the possible outcome of the election.

Some people think it is too early, as not all the candidates' names have been revealed.

One of the questions asked was: if the election were being held this Sunday, who would you vote for? IRI polling has shown that the Georgian Dream coalition candidate, Giorgi Margvelashvili, is in the lead with 41% of the votes. 11% say they would vote for the United National Movement (UNM) candidate though the candidate has not yet been revealed. Coming in third is Salome Zourabichvili with 7% of the votes; 4th and 5th are the leader of Christian-Democratic Movement, Giorgi Targamadze and the leader of Democratic Movement-United Georgia, Nino Burjanadze with 5% each. A full 9% reject all the presidential candidates.

The polling was carried out from May 17 up to June 2. Around 4, 000 respondents have participated in the polling. The result of the poll is of course at the very early stages of the presidential race and the names of the participants have not yet been finalized. Since the results of the polling were in the process of calculation Paata Burchuladze, a world known Georgian opera singer, was nominated among the possible presidential candidates. It is still not identified the name of the candidate of the UNM which is holding primaries to select their best candidate. Burchuladze is believed to be reflecting the desire of the Georgian people to have a charismatic personality in the politics.

Some people nominated as the presidential candidates in the IRI rating commented about the results. Coalition member Giorgi Margvelashvili said this is only an early stage of the presidential race and the results are interesting but premature. In her TV interview Nino Burjanadze refused even to comment over the polling results, thus showing her discontent.

Politicians and analysts remember very well that before the parliamentary elections in October, 2012 IRI as well as NDI and other similar organizations predicted a victory for the UNM. So, this fact also creates certain skepticism in the polling results. However, some people explain that the release of dramatic videotapes form Gldani prison had a great effect on the final results of the Parliamentary election and the subsequent defeat of the UNM.

According to some, the first round of the Presidential Election will not provide the name of the winner and a second round will be necessary. Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili is confident that Margvelashvili will decisively win the race in the first round. The UNM meanwhile suggests that as soon as their primaries are over and their final candidate is known, they will gain more public support.

We think that there will be no surprises and the Georgian Dream coalition candidate will win either in the first round or the second.