Angus Reid Global Monitor, Canada
Feb 15 2008
Sarkisian Could Become President in Armenia
February 15, 2008
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Serge Sarkisian heads to this month’s
presidential election in Armenia as the favourite, according to a
poll by Populus released by Armenia TV. 50.7 per cent of respondents
would vote for the current prime minister in the ballot.
National Assembly chairman Artur Baghdasaryan of the Rule of Law (OY)
party is second with 13.4 per cent, followed by former president
Levon Ter Petrossian with 12.6 per cent, Vahan Hovhannisyan of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation with 7.6 per cent, Artashes
Geghamyan of National Unity (AM) with 6.4 per cent, Tigran Karapetian
of the People’s Party (ZhK) with 4.5 per cent, and former prime
minister Vazgen Manukyan with 3.2 per cent.
Armenian president Robert Kocharyan was re-elected to a new four-year
term in March 2003 in an election marred by fraud allegations. The
next presidential election is scheduled for Feb. 19.
In April 2007, Sarkisian became Armenia’s new prime minister
following the death of Andranik Markarian. The Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK) was headed by Markarian until his death, and is now
primarily led by Sarkisian. In May, Armenian voters renewed the
131-member National Assembly. Final results gave the HHK 32.82 per
cent of the vote and 64 seats, making it the strongest party in the
legislature. On that same month, Sarkisian said he would seek the
presidency.
On Feb. 12, Heritage Party member Vardan Khachatrian announced the
endorsement of Ter Petrossian, saying, "We couldn’t simply hold a
passive stance at the election. Our decision is well-grounded. Levon
Ter Petrossian is the only candidate enjoying public feedback. The
recent large-scale rallies testify to this belief and had a direct
influence on our decision. We haven’t agreed on some major points,
for example the Karabakh conflict resolution. Besides, we have
ideological differences."
Polling Data
Which candidate would you vote for in the presidential election?
Serge Sarkisian
50.7%
Artur Baghdasaryan
13.4%
Levon Ter Petrosyan
12.6%
Vahan Hovhannisyan
7.6%
Artashes Geghamyan
6.4%
Tigran Karapetian
4.5%
Vazgen Manukyan
3.2%
Source: Populus / Armenia TV
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,500 Armenian adults,
conducted from Jan. 21 to Jan. 29, 2008. Margin of error is 2.2 per
cent.
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