Most of the Georgians seem to be in favor of current system of strong president over strong Prime Minister envisaged by draft of constitutional amendments, initiated by the Parliament last week, according to the recent public opinion survey.
48% of respondents said they support presidential system and 14% said they support strong Prime Minister; 31% responded that they do not know, according to the poll carried out by Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) for U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI).
According to the similar survey in December, 2009 most of the respondents said they were in favor of giving more powers to the Parliament at the expense of the President.
Asked about President Saakashvili’s remarks in an interview with Le Monde in early June that he had thought of becoming Prime Minister after the end of his second and final presidential term in 2013, 32% of respondents said they do not support it and 26% said they do. 16% said it did not matter for them and 23% did not know.
2,053 respondents were interviewed in the comprehensive survey on public attitude towards issues ranging from national and local issues to foreign policy in a period between June 24 and July 5.
Most of the respondents prioritize unemployment as a top problem, followed by territorial integrity and poverty, according to the survey.
Most of the respondents think that judiciary independence would be the most important political reform for the country, followed by protection of property rights and tax reform.
42% of respondents think that Georgia is moving “mainly in the right direction” and 9% - “definitely going in the right direction”, with 15% thinking that Georgia “is not changing”.
53% of respondents believe that local elections were held either well or very well. But like in previous similar survey, carried out in April, 46% of respondents think that Georgia is not a democracy.
Number of respondents who are critical about the Georgian authorities’ policy towards Russia has increased by about 7% since previous similar survey in April.
According to the recent poll, 34% of respondents say that they “fully disapprove” Georgia’s current policy towards Russia and 25% say they “partially disapprove” it.