On 24 March 2015, on air on the Rustavi 2 TV channel, whilst commenting upon the new International Republican Institute (IRI) survey, the leader of the Free Democrats, Irakli Alasania, declared: "It is distressing to know that the level of trust in the Ministry of Defence and the army has decreased."

The International Republican Institute is a non-governmental organisation which was founded in 1983 and has been conducting public opinion polls in Georgia since 2003.

The IRI surveys in the form of public opinion polls are conducted by the random selection method engaging 1,500 respondents who are selected Georgia-wide for individual one-to-one interviews. Participants must be above the age of 18 years and eligible to vote. The final results of the public opinion polls are based upon the answers provided by respondents to specially drafted questions. The margin of error in the surveys does not exceed 3%.

One of the integral parts of the IRI surveys is to measure the level of trust in state and religious institutions. The organisation has been conducting opinion polls on this particular issue since 2007.

 Public Attitude towards the Army according to IRI Surveys (2007-2015)

As illustrated by the surveys, 86% of the respondents had a favourable attitude towards the Georgian army in 2007. That number rose to 92% in 2008. Later, in 2009, the army’s favourability rating dropped by 13% which reached the lowest point of public trust towards this particular state institution. However, the number of people with a positive attitude towards the army increased in 2010-2011.

After the parliamentary elections in 2012 and the change of government, the public opinion survey conducted in November of the same year registered a 2% increase (91%) in the trust towards the army whilst the number of those respondents who assessed the army’s job performance negatively dropped by 3% (3%). The following survey, which was conducted in February 2013, showed the number of respondents with a positive attitude towards the army as unaltered whilst the number of respondents with a negative attitude decreased even further to 1%. In 2014, the level of trust in the army rose to 94%.

Concerning the IRI’s latest survey which was conducted at the beginning of 2015, public trust towards the army has decreased to 87% which constitutes a 6% decline as compared to 2014. Additionally, the number of respondents who assess the Georgian army’s performance negatively rose by 5%. The level of trust in the army dropped sharply only in the 2009 survey after the Russian-Georgian war of 2008.

In addition, it must be noted that throughout 2007-2015, according to these public opinion polls, the army regularly holds the second place among the most trusted institutions – after the Georgian Orthodox Church – and only according to the 2011 survey (April-May) was the police ahead of the army in terms of trust (by 1%). According to the latest 2015 survey, despite the decrease in the public favourability rating, the army retains its second place in the list of Georgia’s most trusted state institutions.

According to the latest International Republican Institute (IRI) survey which was conducted in February 2015, the level of public trust towards the army dropped by 6% as compared to the results of the penultimate survey (14.02.2014) and now ranks at 87%.

Generally, the IRI surveys in the period 2007-2015 show an upward trend in the favourable attitude of the Georgian population towards the army. Of note is the year 2009 as the period with the population’s least favourable attitude (79%) towards this state institution.

Nevertheless the number of interviewed citizens who trust the army dropped by 6% in 2015 as compared to 2014 according to the latest IRI survey, the army still holds the second place after the Georgian Orthodox Church among the most trusted state institutions.