New Poll Shows Dissatisfaction with Pashinyan, His Office and His Party

A new opinion poll commissioned by the Washington-based International Republican Institute revealed that a whopping 61 percent of those polled do not trust any political entity in Armenia, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s popularity dropping and dissatisfaction toward his Civil Contract Party and his office surging.

According to the poll, Pashinyan’s popularity dropped to 13 percent compared to a similar poll conducted by the same group in September, which has his rating at 17 percent.

The IRI interviewed around 1,500 people across the country last month, including displaced Artsakh Armenians. They participants were asked if the elections were taking place next Sunday, who they would vote for and 40 percent of the respondents said they would not participate in the elections, either by not voting or “spoiling” their ballots.

The polls showed a distrust among citizens of the current opposition forces, with former president Robert Kocharian’s Armenia Alliance being deemed most popular, with a four-percent popularity.

The respondents also voiced dissatisfaction in institutions in Armenia, with the National Assembly being the least favored entity with a 72 percent disapproval rating. The Prime Minister’s office receiving a 54 percent disapproval rating, with 65 percent of those polled in Yerevan disapproving of the activities of the Yerevan Municipality.

The institution favored by most respondents was Armenia’s Armed Forces, with a 72 percent approval rating.

The Armenian Church, which has been a target of a crusade from Pashinyan garnered a 58 percent approval rating, far greater than Pashinyan or his Civil Contract party.

According to the IRI poll, less than half of respondents support the signing of a treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Support for it is the lowest among citizens between the ages of 18 and 35. Only 38 percent of them fully or partially approve of the peace deal.

The poll also found a further drop in the proportion of citizens who believe that Armenia is “heading in the right direction.” Only 36 percent of them think so now, compared with 49 percent who feel that their country is on the wrong track.

On the foreign policy and international relations front, Iran was rated Armenia’s top partner.

According to the poll, 53 percent of respondents consider Iran to be Armenia’s most important “political partner.” It is followed by France (48 percent) and Russia (45 percent).

The respondents overwhelmingly stated that they saw Azerbaijan, Israel and Turkey as the biggest threats to Armenia’s national security and sovereignty.