An independent Ukrainian pollster on Monday presented a recap of his organization’s recent pre-election survey in Armenia, highlighting major advantages for the political opposition compared to Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s party.
Nikolay Spiridonov, a political analyst who heads the Kiev-based public development centre Inter-Akcia, said their preliminary polls in Yerevan revealed 16.3% supporters for Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Partry as opposed to the 21.6% for the Armenia Alliance (led by second President Robert Kocharyan) and the 10.8% – for I Have the Honor bloc (led by Artur Vanetsyan, a former director of the National Security Service).
As for the other political forces vying for parliament, some 10.8% of the respondents turned out to have given preference to Gagik Tsarukyan’s Prosperous Armenia party (PAP), with another 4.6% – to Edmon Marukyan’s Bright Armenia. First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s Armenian National Congress (ANC) and the radical opposition group Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sasoun) received 1,7% and 2.1%, respectively, Spiridonov said, adding that 22.6% appeared to be still hesitant.
The ruling political force appeared to have the highest number of potential voters in the regions – 27.3%, followed by Armenia Alliance (14.1%), I Have the Honor (8.2%), Prosperous Armenia (6.1%), Bright Armenia (3.7%), Sasna Tsrer (1.3%), ANC (0.7%).
The majority of the respondents – 63% – said they expect the domestic political situation to stabilize after the elections; another 18% expressed the contrary position.
As for the major tasks of the future National Assembly and cabinet, 73% pointed out to national security, 12% – economic concerns, 7% – fight against corruption.