Ruling GD Distrusts Edison Research Pre-Election Survey Results
The Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party says they do not trust the results of the survey, conducted by the market research and exit polling company Edison Research, ahead the runoff of the October 28 Presidential Elections of Georgia.
The survey was commissioned by the opposition-minded Rustavi 2 TV. It was conducted on November 1-9 and includes interviews with 2000 respondents over the age of 18.
The results, published by Rustavi 2, read that the majority of the interviewed people would vote for the candidate of the United Opposition, Grigol Vahsadze – 38%, and 34% for the GD-backed candidate, Salome Zurabishvili. 18% of the respondents stated they have not yet decided who to vote for.
As a result of the full allocation, Rustavi2 reported the results were as follows: Grigol Vashadze - 56%; Salome Zurabishvili - 44%.
The organization also asked the respondents who they voted for in the first round of elections. The answers were: Salome Zurabishvili - 34%; Grigol Vashadze - 33%; David Bakradze - 8%; other candidates - 5%; No-one - 3%; Refused to answer - 17%.
Rustavi 2 released the results of an Edison Research poll on October 4, according to which Grigol Vashadze's rating was 22% and Salome Zurabishvili - 15%. However, after the first round, Zurabishvili got 38% and Vashadze 37% of votes.
Zurabishvili does not trust the research of the international organization and states that she had no expectations from the survey.
"I do not expect anything from these surveys. You should ask those who commission such studies and if the difference is even 30%, it does not matter today," she said.
Georgia’s Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze, who also leads Zurabishvili’s election headquarters, says that both surveys conducted by the Edison Research mismatch the reality.
“We will see what society thinks after the elections, when the final results are announced. The people will make their choice and I want to call on everyone to be active,” he said.
Meanwhile Kakha Kaladze, Tbilisi Mayor and Head of Zurabishvili’s election headquarters in the capital, says the surveys of Edison Research are a “big lie and an attempt to mislead the population.”
“These polls are a common lie and a manipulation of public opinion. If we look at the past years, the surveys told us one thing but reality after the elections was always different,” the Mayor stressed.
United Opposition candidate Vashadze says the Edison Research poll results revealed that it always makes sense to fight to the end.
“As time passes, society is coming to understand the power of elections. In 2003, people changed the corrupt government and in 2012 they got rid of the authorities who were controlling the State. The same will happen during these elections too,” he said.
By Thea Morrison