According to the statistics for the Democracy Index 2018, published by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), recent presidential election squabbles led to Georgia suffering the steepest drop in democratic quality in eastern Europe.
According to the study, Georgia is still on the list of hybrid regimes, but with the worst index. Georgia has 5.93 points within the index, while it lowered at 5.50 points in 2018.
"Under Ivanishvili"s influence, the government intervened in the second-round presidential election, offering a debt write-off to 600,000 citizens two weeks after election day," the EIU"s Democratic Index report noted.
Representatives of the opposition respond to the assessment of "Economist". Opponents of the government think that the sharp drop in Democracy Index was expected. According to the opposition members, the decline in the index will continue until the country is managed by Bidzina Ivanishvili.
The opponents of the government focus on informal management of the country. According to the opposition, the democracy index was even worse after the presidential elections, as it was held on the background of violence and bribery.
"The country has an informal manager who does not occupy any position but controls the executive government, the legislative authorities and now wants to get control of all the financial resources. Also, this index is worsened after the presidential elections which were conducted against the background of extreme violence, bribing people, "- said Khatia Dekanoidze, a member of the National Movement.