Sixty-four percents of Armenian citizens do not trust any political figure - IRI survey
YEREVAN, September 12. /ARKA/. Around 64% of Armenia's citizens do not trust any political figure, 16% trust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and 10% found it difficult to answer the question, according to a new nationwide poll in Armenia conducted by the International Republican Institute's (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research (CISR).
Data was collected via computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI) throughout Armenia between June 10 and June 21, 2022, via Random Digit Dialing (RDD) with stratification by mobile operators according to their market shares.
The sample consisted of 1,499 permanent residents of Armenia 18 and older with access to a mobile phone. The margin of error does not exceed plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for the full sample. The response rate was 22%.
Of those surveyed, 42% thought the country was heading in the wrong direction, 31% thought it was heading in the right direction, and 27% declined or had difficulty answering the question.
Some 54% of the respondents said the most important problem facing the country is national and border security. Ten percent said it is the political instability.
According to 5% of the respondents, the most important problems in the country are the situation in the economy and unemployment. Four% of respondents said they are high prices and living costs, 2% of respondents mentioned regional conflicts and the situation with democracy. Another 2% named poverty as the most important problem, and 2% of respondents were undecided.
Sixteen percents of the respondents have a very positive opinion about Prime Minister Nikola Pashinyan, 31% have a somewhat positive opinion, 11% - somewhat negative, 22% - very negative, 1% - have not heard anything about him, and 15% found difficulty or refuse to answer the question.
As for the Parliament Speaker Alain Simonyan, 8% of the respondents have a very positive opinion about him, 26% have a somewhat positive opinion, 12% - somewhat negative, 25% - very negative, 11% - have not heard of him, and 17% found it difficult or refused to answer the question.
President Vahagn Khachatryan is regarded very positively by 6%, 18% of the respondents have a somewhat positive opinion about him, 12% - somewhat negative, 9% - very negative, 44% - have not heard about him, and 16% found it difficult or refused to answer the question.
When asked which political force they would vote for if parliamentary elections were held next Sunday, 25% of respondents named the ruling Civil Contract party, 6% the opposition alliance Hayastan (Armenia), 2% named the ARF Dashnaktsutyun party, 1% - the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), and 1% -the opposition bloc Pativ Une, (I have Honor).
At the same time 25% of the respondents said they wouldn't take part in voting, 15% said they wouldn't vote for any of the political forces mentioned, 14% found it difficult to answer and 4% refused to answer the question. Also, 6% said they would vote for another political force and 1% said they would spoil their ballot.
Additionally, 66% of Armenians believe there is a need for constitutional reform. Among those, 31% would like to see changes in state governance and 29% want improvements with the judiciary system.
The survey was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.-0-
