Armenia poll show army more popular than government

Azg, Yerevan
21 Mar 06 p1

The National Statistics Service of Armenia has conducted a poll in 216
villages and 43 towns and Yerevan that showed a high level of trust in
the armed forces and church but not in the government, the Armenian
newspaper Azg reported on 21 March.

Quoting the results of the poll, the newspaper hailed the fact that 87
per cent of the respondents trust the army as “very important taking
into account the regional factor and threats issued by our
neighbours”.

The survey showed that 58 per cent of the respondents trust the
central government and 39 per cent do not; 63 per cent of the
respondents trust local authorities and 33.5 per cent do not. Azg
added that the popularity of the government has declined because of
the difficult socio-economic situation in the country.

Forty one per cent of those surveyed do not trust the justice system
as opposed to 52 per cent who do; 35,6 per cent do not trust the
police as opposed to 59 per cent who do. The newspaper said it had
expected a larger number of people to express their distrust of the
“justice and police systems that are considered the most corrupt and
discredited ones”.

Azg said that the mass media seem to be more popular than the
journalists: 75 per cent of those surveyed trust the mass media and 22
per cent do not.