January 05, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Incumbent Mikhail Saakashvili heads to today’s presidential election in Georgia as the frontrunner, according to a poll by ACT Research Ltd. and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. 42 per cent of respondents in the former Soviet republic would vote for Saakashvili.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Incumbent Mikhail Saakashvili heads to today’s presidential election in Georgia as the frontrunner, according to a poll by ACT Research Ltd. and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. 42 per cent of respondents in the former Soviet republic would vote for Saakashvili.

Opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze is second with 19 per cent, followed by businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili with 11 per cent, Labour Party leader Shalva Natelashvili with five per cent, New Right faction leader David Gamkrelidze with four per cent, and Future of Georgia leader Giya Maisashvili with one per cent.

Georgia was the site of political instability in the last weeks of 2003, after the Georgian Supreme Court partially annulled the results of a parliamentary election. The ensuing crisis led to the resignation of president Eduard Shevardnadze after opposition politicians requested his dismissal over electoral fraud. The country chose former justice minister Saakashvili as the new head of state in January 2004.

On Nov. 7, thousands of people staged a protest in front of Georgia’s Parliament building to demand Saakashvili’s resignation and an early presidential election. After a harsh confrontation between riot police and demonstrators, Saakashvili declared a temporary national state of emergency. He later scheduled an early presidential ballot for January 2008, but refused to resign.

Yesterday, Gachechiladze expressed dissatisfaction with the campaign, saying, "The election process has not been democratic, and cannot be considered fair or legitimate. It’s impossible that the vote will be fair. It will likely be rigged in Mr. Saakashvili’s favour."

Also yesterday, Saakashvili justified his actions during the November protests, saying, "It’s not about us alienating the vast majority of people. But it’s about us alienating some part of post-Soviet elite, it’s about alienating people who suffered because of reforms, but there wasn’t any other way to make this country without those reforms."

Polling Data

Which candidate would you vote for in the presidential election?

Mikhail Saakashvili	42%
Levan Gachechiladze	19%
Badri Patarkatsishvili	11%
Shalva Natelashvili	5%
David Gamkrelidze	4%
Giya Maisashvili	1%
Would not vote	2%
Undecided	16%

Source: ACT Research Ltd. / Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,200 Georgian voters, conducted from Dec. 5 to Dec. 13, 2007. Margin of error is 3.4 per cent.