On 27 November, the chief of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili stated during a talk show on Imedi TV stated that the results of the public opinion polls by the US-funded International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) were being devalued in the country.  

“For years now the polls are being published. These are published by very serious organizations of our strategic partner. And they no longer have public confidence, are often met with [an ironic] smile,” he said. Ivanishvili then continued implying that the polls of the US institutes are backing the opposition, particularly the United National Movement (UNM). “It’s not that we are afraid of these polls… It’s just that they are [relentlessly] published in circumstances of such low confidence. It seems that the polls serve a different purpose, it may be that some politicians want to convince our citizens, saying – look at the US organizations, their bias is clearly seen, they don’t like the Georgian Dream and still support the [United] National Movement…[They would say] look, central, U.S. organization are consciously manipulating these [polls], so that they can demonstrate support to the National Movement and not the Georgian Dream,” Ivanishvili hypothesized, adding that he thinks that  neither of these views were without [substance]. 

He blamed the loss of reputation of IRI and NDI polls on UNM. “Who is doing field studies for IRI and NDI? In both cases, these are organisations founded by UNM, by former members of UNM. They go into the field, arrange everything and NDI or IRI just give their letterhead. No methodology to speak [of],” he said. 

Ivanishvili proceeded by saying that Georgia is strongly attached to the US as its strategic partner and “they have done a lot so that we [have[ stability, are watching over our development [and] support us in every way”, but argued that if the U.S. bodies such as IRI and NDI are doing things that breeds a lack of confidence in society, it is “regrettable”. He added, that his concerns are related to NDI and IRI offices in Georgia, and not in Washington, D.C., where “Georgia has an unprecedented level of support.”

The US embassy in Georgia and civil society representatives responded to Ivanishvili’s statements. “Our partners do important work. NDI, IRI and other independent, non-partisan organisations help strengthen Georgia’s democracy,” wrote USAID on its official Twitter page. This statement was further shared by the US Embassy in Georgia, adding, that Embassy is proud of the important work of its partners. US Congressman Eliot Engel, who is also the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives also issued a statement regarding this issue. Noting that the Georgian people “remain on the front line” against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression, “as Russia continues to occupy Georgia’s territory to this day,” Engel said he has supported Congress’ investment in Georgia’s democracy and civil society, including through NDI and IRI. “These organisations have worked with a range of partners to support democratic institutions worldwide,” he said. “In Georgia, they work closely with partners across the political spectrum, including the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition parties. They do not choose sides or support particular political outcomes,” he added. Congressman Engel called on his friends in Georgia to continue partnering with organisations like NDI and IRI to advance Georgian citizens’ aspirations “for a more democratic, sovereign, and prosperous future.”

In response to Ivanishvili’s statement, Keti Khutsishvili, the Executive Director of the Open Society Georgia said that a government starts harassing NGOs when it starts to move towards autocracy. 

On 4 December, IRI’s President Daniel Twining held an interview with the Georgian Voice of America to share his views on Ivanishvili’s statement. “We have seen this in other countries, where a government that is perhaps losing popularity suddenly decides that it does not like the findings of our surveys. I’m afraid that is not on us. The surveys are quite objectively done and again, they are not useful to politicians unless they tell the truth, unless they honestly reflect what citizens care about and how they see not just their government but political parties and the big issues before the country. We feel very good about our survey results. Other democracy organizations have also come under attack in Georgia for their survey results when politicians have not liked the findings of those surveys,“ he said.

Twining added that such unhappy responses also came when the UNM was ruling the country and also commented on the fact that the Vice-Chairman of the IRI Board of Directors Randy Scheunemann, who is registered as an official lobbyist of the UNM,  has recused himself from all IRI activity relating to Georgia under the IRI code of ethics and conflict of interest policy.

Twining also said that in Georgia is currently facing a big Russian disinformation campaign running and that Kremlin-financed NGO’s and institutes in Georgia “are not trying to strengthen democratic best practice.”

 “American NGO’s like IRI, supported by the U.S. government, are there to help Georgia become a stronger and better partner for the United States by being an effective democracy. That’s the whole idea: to let Georgians make their own choices. There is a very different set of activities conducted by Kremlin-sponsored groups and influences that are not focused on helping Georgians make their own choices.  They are designed to pull Georgia back,” he said. 

Twinning did not solely blame the Russian NGO´s and institutes for meddling into Georgian internal political affairs, but also the Chinese ones. “We see a Russian disinformation assault on foreign NGOs. We also see it out of the Chinese Communist Party. When we hear foreign politicians, foreign governments, attacking American NGO’s it is usually [countries] like Russia and China, where there is no political freedom, where there is no democratic practice. So, It is surprising to hear it in a democracy,” he said, concluding that he still has “great faith and hope for Georgia’s future “.

The NDI and IRI are already for 21 years active in Georgia. IRI published their last public opinion poll in the country on 18 November which was conducted between 11 September and 14 October, which the first public opinion polls conducted after the protests from 20 June (Caucasus Watch reported).