Georgia’s position on the Democracy Index 2018 published by the economist has dropped. Democracy levels are assessed based on election processes, how the government functions, political participation, and political culture.
The index assesses the level of democracy for 167 countries across the world. In the updated index, Georgia holds 89th place which compared to the previous year is a loss of 10 steps. The rating score of Georgia also dropped, coming to 5.50 out of 19, in comparison to its rating of 5.93 in 2017. Among European regions, Georgia stands in 18th place.
With these indicators, Georgia remains on the list of the countries with a hybrid democracy regime.
Among the countries with hybrid regimes, Armenia saw the biggest improvement. Georgia and Moldova are among the countries whose situations have worsened most significantly. Specifically, the report points to Bidzina Ivanishvili’s return to politics and his becoming the chair of the ruling party, and that despite the fact that he was not elected, he still has a significant influence on the government. In addition, the report also mentioned the resignation of the former Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and that the reasons behind this decision had to do with disagreements with Bidzina Ivanishvili. The report also refers to the process of annulling the loans of citizens:
“With Ivanishvili’s influence, the government became involved in the second round of the presidential elections and 2 weeks prior to the elections promised 600,000 citizens that they would write off their debts, giving the government an advantage over the opposition”. – states the report.
In addition to Georgia, other countries from the European region on the list of those with hybrid regimes include Albania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.
