The Economist announces a sharp drop in Georgia's Democracy Index

In 2018, Georgia dropped from the 78th to the 89th place in the Democracy Index calculated by The Economist. According to the British edition, the index drop is associated with the return to politics of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili and the leave of Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili. A catastrophic drop was expected after the presidential election, especially after the declared remission of the population's debts to banks, political analysts noted.

According to The Economist, for 12 years, Georgia climbed from the 103rd to the 78th place and then lost 11 points at once.

"Unfortunately, the Georgian ruling elite could not stand the experience of the presidential election ... The Economist's Democracy Index is the most comprehensive and respectful in the world. All private investors and governments of friendly countries pay attention to the Democracy Index, and the drop is likely to have a negative impact on our country," said Tornike Sharashenidze, a founder of the Georgian Strategic Analysis Centre (GSAC), on the air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Channel.

Giorgi Oniani, a member of the Georgian branch of the Transparency International, points to the remission of the population's debts as one of the factors which provoked the drop in the Democracy Index.

"Before the second round of the election, 600,000 citizens were promised that their debts would be written off ... The ruling force must draw some conclusions, otherwise the Georgia's image will suffer great damage and that will affect the investment attractiveness of the country," Giorgi Oniani told the "Echo of the Caucasus".

He has emphasized that the Georgia's rating calculated by The Economist will also affect other international ratings of the country.