85% of respondents in Armenia approve of the activities of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, say the results of a poll conducted by MPG (Marketing Professional Group). It is the only sociological organization in Armenia officially representing Gallup International in the country.
The poll reports that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has continued to lead in ratings since the Velvet Revolution in 2018.
Ratings of major political players in the country, according to the opinion poll and expert opinions.
Survey results
“22.7% of respondents approve of the work of the opposition, 54.7% approve of the National Assembly, 67.9% approve of the government, 79.3% approve of the president, and 85% approve of the prime minister,” MPG Director Aram said Navasardyan at a July 3 press conference.
He says that the polls were conducted by telephone on June 10-27. A total of 1,002 people were interviewed. The statistical error of the survey is 3%.
In December 2019, the same company conducted a similar survey. At that time, the most popular politicians were once again, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (83.2%) and President Armen Sargsyan (83%).
Expert opinions
Political scientist Hrant Mikaelyan believes that it is difficult to truly understand what public opinion is, and that you must take the data with a grain of salt:
“There is no question about the quality of the company’s work. The question is rather how much you can trust the field of sociology.
People are afraid to express their opinions, as in all countries, if they believe that this opinion differs from the majority opinion. At the moment, the public is hearing a lot of very strong appeals from the government, including from the top level. And that affects how people express their opinions.”
Over the past month, several important events have occurred in Armenia which upset a large part of the population. In particular, people are displeased with a bill proposing real estate tax hikes and another proposing constitutional amendments, both which were adopted by parliament in late June. In addition, the coronavirus continues to spread through the country, and some of citizens blame the government for its ineffectiveness in fighting the virus.
In light of this situation, one political scientist explained the prime minister’s high ratings by the fact that “the authorities continue to actively communicate with the public”:
“It is often said that the opposition controls large media resources. But if we talk about the media that the public normally consumes, it consists mainly of different YouTube channels, the prime minister’s live channels, and channels that are loyal to the authorities. A large part of society never learns about alternative points of view.”
And as for the opposition rating, Mikaelyan considers 22.7% to be a rather low number:
“The fact that a very small percentage of the population supports the opposition indicates that we have a very weak party system. It has either gotten weaker, or at least is not getting any stronger.”
