ARMENIAN PM SARKISIAN HAS BEST CHANCE TO WIN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Russia & CIS Presidential Bulletin
December 19, 2007

Polls show that Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian has the best
chances to win the presidential elections slated for February 19,
2008, sociologist Agaron Adibekian, the head of the Sociometr public
survey center, said at a press conference in Yerevan on Wednesday.

"An October poll of 1,650 people in all parts of the country, including
Yerevan, who were asked for whom they would vote in the elections,
showed that 27% of the respondents were wiling to give their votes
for Sarkisian, and 40% were confident of his victory," Adibekian said.

The other presidential contenders have significantly lower support,
he said.

"As many as 4.8% of the respondents are willing to vote for Orinats
Yerkir party leader Artur Bagdasarian, 2.7% for first Armenian
President Levon Ter-Petrosian, 1.4% for deputy parliamentary speaker
and member of the Dashnaktsutiun party bureau Vaan Ovannesian, 1.1%
for NDS leader Vazgen Manukian, and 0.3% for ALM media holding head
and People’s Party leader Tigran Karapetian," Adibekian said.

Another 5.4% of those polled also mentioned Raffi Ovannesian, the
leader of the Heritage party, who has been barred from the presidential
race, as the Armenian police visa and passport department refused to
verify that he has been an Armenian citizen for the past ten years.

Asked for whom they would definitely not vote, the largest number of
people – 28.5% – mentioned first Armenian President Ter-Petrosian.