M. Saakashvili's rating is half as high as that of G. Bush

Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili would get only 15.9 percent of votes if presidential election were held next Sunday, according to the results of the poll conducted by the Institute of Public Opinion and Social Sentiment Study, published in Georgian newspapers today.

At the latest presidential election held in Georgia in January 2004, 96.25 percent of the voters supported M. Saakashvili.

According to the poll results, the second place would go to the leader of the opposition Labor Party Shalva Natelashvili, with 13 percent of the vote, to be followed by ex-Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili with 11.5 percent, then one of the leaders of the opposition parliamentary faction "Democratic Front" Koba Davitashvili with 6.5 percent, and parliament's speaker Nino Burjanadze with 4.6 percent. The last place would be shared by the son of the first Georgian president Constantine Gamsahurdia, who is leader of the "Freedom" Party, and leader of the "New Right" David Gamkrelidze, both with 2.8 percent.

The poll covered 1,860 respondents all over Georgia.