- JAMnews, Yerevan
The recently published results of a Gallup International poll claim 38.8 percent of respondents in Armenia believe Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan should remain in the post of head of government, while 43.6% believe that he should resign.
The survey was conducted by MPG (Marketing Professional Group) – the only organization in Armenia that officially represents GALLUP International in the country.
The last such survey was conducted in November 2020. Then, according to the director of MPG Aram Navasardyan, 35% demanded the prime minister’s resignation. At the same time, the prime minister retains the highest rating among other Armenian politicians.
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The PM’s rating is higher than former presidents
The respondents who participated in the poll were asked to rate politicians on a scale of 1 to 5.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had the highest rating with 2.8 points.
After him, incumbent President Armen Sargsyan has the highest rating at 2.3 points.
Former presidents of Armenia received lower scores:
- first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan – 1.7
- second president Robert Kocharian – 2
- third president Serzh Sargsyan – 1.7
Among the oppositionists, the leader was the head of the Prosperous Armenia party, prominent businessman Gagik Tsarukyan – 2.2 points. The leader of Bright Armenia Edmon Marukyan scored 1.8 points, the head of the Motherland party, the former head of the National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan – 1.5, the representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun – 1.6.
Vazgen Manukyan, a candidate for the post of prime minister put forward by the opposition parties united in the Movement for the Salvation of the Motherland also scored 1.6 points.
“The previous authorities are to blame for the defeat in the Karabakh war”
32% of respondents blame the former authorities of Armenia for the defeat in the second Karabakh war. Nikol Pashinyan is considered guilty by 28.8%.
16.1% of the respondents consider the participation of Turkey in the war as the reason for the defeat, and 4.4% blame certain officers of the Armenian Ministry of Defense and the NK Defense Army.
Despite the results of the war, there were also those who believe that the Armenian side did not suffer defeat. This is 10.2% of the respondents.
30.7% of respondents believe that Armenia needs to return Shushi and Hadrut and 7 regions around NK – that is, return to the situation that was before the start of the war in Karabakh in the fall of 2020.
“3.1% noted that it is necessary to recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, surrender Artsakh and end the conflict,” said director of MPG Aram Navasardyan.
Most are in favor of snap elections
At the end of last year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan suggested that the country’s political forces begin consultations on holding early parliamentary elections in 2021.
This was his vision of a way out of the political crisis that arose in the country after the second Karabakh war.
However, already in February 2021, the ruling parliamentary faction My Step announced that there would be no elections.
The decision was justified by the fact that “the proposal of the Prime Minister to hold early parliamentary elections did not receive a positive reaction from the parliamentary opposition, there is no request for early elections among the general public.”
According to the results of the poll, 37.1% of respondents consider the holding of parliamentary elections to be “unequivocally necessary”, and 21.3% consider it “rather necessary”.
13.6% and 19.7%, respectively, voted for the options “rather not needed” and “not needed at all”.
Respondents also answered a question about the format of early elections. 41.2% of those polled believe that the elections should be held under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan, while 28.2% are against the idea. 7.9% are for the idea of having the elections be held under the leadership of an interim government proposed by the opposition.