DASHNAK CANDIDATE SLAMS ‘FRAUDULENT’ POLLS
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 24 2007

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian is not as popular as is claimed by
pro-government pollsters, one of his election challengers representing
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) said on Monday.

Deputy parliament speaker Vahan Hovannisian also echoed former
President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s claim that the Armenian authorities
artificially increased the number of presidential candidates to
facilitate Sarkisian’s victory in the ballot scheduled for February 19.

Opinion polls conducted by the Armenian Sociological Association
(ASA) and other local researchers have consistently given Sarkisian
a huge lead over other election contenders. Armenian state television
cited on Sunday the results of the latest, U.S.-funded poll designed
by the U.S. Gallup organization and conducted by the ASA.

It said Sarkisian would garner 29 percent of the vote if the election
was held this week. Opposition leader Artur Baghdasarian would come
in a distant second but far ahead of other candidates with 12 percent,
according to the poll.

Ter-Petrosian and his allies dismiss this and previous voter survey as
fraudulent, saying that the ASA’s past polling data always coincided
with the official results of past Armenian elections criticized as
deeply flawed by international observers.

Hovannisian, the Dashnaktsutyun candidate, likewise challenged the
credibility of those polls. Asked by journalists whether he trusts
in the approval ratings assigned to Sarkisian, he said, "No, I don’t."

Hovannisian said Dashnaktsutyun, which is represented in Sarkisian’s
cabinet by three minister, has conducted its own poll which put him
in second place. But he declined to give any details, saying only
that the prime minister’s victory is not a forgone conclusion despite
upbeat statements made by his entourage.

"They usually speak of things being predetermined when their
self-confidence is phony," said Hovannisian. "There are no grounds
for such self-confidence in Armenia."

"Nothing is predetermined. Everything will be decided by the popular
vote," he added.

The Dashnaktsutyun leader, whose daughter married a nephew of Sarkisian
recently, also made it clear that he will not drop out of the race
in favor of the election favorite. "Dashnaktsutyun will go to the
end with an intention to win," he said.

In a weekend speech, Ter-Petrosian alleged that some of the nine
presidential candidates entered the fray on government orders with
the aim of splitting the opposition. The ex-president, seen by
many as Sarkisian’s most formidable challenger, named no names but
stressed that he does not regard Hovannisian and Baghdasarian as
"bogus candidates."

"He has serious reason to have such a view," Hovannisian said,
commenting on Ter-Petrosian’s claims.