Poll Says Armenians Blame Central Gov’t for Economic Malaise

Sociologist Aharon Adibekyan is executive director at Sociometer polling center

YEREVAN (Arka)—A public opinion poll conducted by Sociometer polling center in March and April this year revealed that the majority of Armenian citizens blame negative socio-economic conditions on the country’s central authorities. The findings of the poll were presented Wednesday by the head of the polling center, sociologist Aharon Adibekyan.

Adibekyan said the survey involved about 5,000 respondents in 95 communities across the country. Some 76 percent of the respondents blamed negative socio-economic changes in the country on central authorities, while 7.5 percent blamed local authorities. Another 7.5 percent put blame on themselves, while the remaining respondents provided no answer.

Adibekyan said the survey found that the assessment of socio-economic changes, including employment opportunities, worsened by a factor of three when compared to the findings of a previous poll, while assessment of personal safety also worsened one and a half times.

Adibekyan cited international rating centers, according to whom, in terms of governance quality among former Soviet republics, Armenia ranks fourth after Latvia, Lithuania, and Georgia.