TBILISI, DFWatch – If there were elections tomorrow 47 percent would vote for the party of President Mikheil Saakashvili, the National Movement, according to a survey by the U.S. National Democratic Institute.

The Georgian Dream coalition of Bidzina Ivanishvili is in second place with 10 percent, while the Christian Democrats Movement is in third with 3 percent.

Having presented a rough overview, the results as they are released by the NDI then go on to detail some nuances.

Whereas 47 percent of respondents would vote for the National Movement as their first choice if there were elections tomorrow, only 2 percent name the ruling party as their second choice.

10 per cent would choose Georgian Dream as their first choice, while 3 per cent have this coalition as their second choice.

The Christian Democrats are in third place. 3 per cent want them as their first choice, while 8 per cent have them as a second choice.

‘Which party is closer to you?’ was another question put to people. 41 per cent answers that the National Movement is closer. Georgian Dream is in second place with 11 per cent, while the Christian Democrats are in third with five per cent of people saying they are the closest.

54 percent say they like the leader of the parliamentary opposition Giorgi Targamadze, from the Christian Democrats; while 29 per cent disapprove of him. 49 per cent like Inga Grigolia, representative of the same party and a member of Tbilisi City Council and former popular talk show hostess; 30 percent disapprove of her. 40 per cent of respondents like Bidzina Ivanishvli, while 31 per cent disapprove of him. 30 per cent like Irakli Alasania, leader of the Free Democrats and representative of Ivanishvili’s political coalition, while 43 per cent disapprove of him.

If there were presidential elections tomorrow, 29 per cent of those questioned would vote for the candidate of the National Movement. 12 per cent would vote for Bidzina Ivanishvili, and 5 per cent would vote for Giorgi Targamadze.

The other parties receive less than one per cent of the votes on all these questions.

NDI ordered the survey from the Caucasus Resource Research Center (CRRC) which carried it out between February 22 and March 5. They interviewed more than 3 000 people throughout the country.

The survey covered a broad range of issues, not only about party preference. Political opinion polls are carried out two times every year. The results are not made public, but parts are shared with political parties in Georgia. Usually, the results are leaked to the press nonetheless.

The NDI usually presents each party only with the ratings of that particular party. But this time, NDI presented the whole survey, showing the political ratings for the main political parties in Georgia.

NDI conducted survey from February 22 to March 5 in Georgia. 3 161 persons were questioned. The survey is financed by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and is conducted by Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC).