Epress.am News from Armenia
Our power is centralized, it’s mainly in the hands of the government, and neither the opposition nor business circles can have a large influence on the situation. Consequently, there’s an issue with broadening and deepening democracy, and all those forces that have a constructive position and can benefit Armenia should be brought to power, said Sociometr independent sociological center (also known as the Center for Independent Social Studies) Director Aharon Adibekyan, presenting the findings of a Sociometr survey at a press conference in Yerevan today.
“It’s such that the main decision in the country is made by the president, the prime minister and the National Assembly chair. That’s a situation not quite worthy of a democracy, despite how much we respect our president, prime minister and National Assembly chair,” he said.
It’s the same situation in other former Soviet states, he said, it’s just that the concentration of power is more stringent elsewhere.
According to the Sociometr survey results, citizens of Armenia considered current president Serzh Sargsyan (35%) to be the most influential, followed by leader of the Prosperous Armenia party, notorious businessman Gagik Tsarukyan (13%). Third place in this category went to RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan (8.5%).
“Levon Ter-Petrossian, after leaving [former Armenian president Robert] Kocharian’s arena, over these past few years, has made it into the top five and has great influence (4%). While Robert Kocharian maintains some influence in the political arena, 2.3%,” said Adibekyan.
The findings showed that the overall influence of pro-government circles is 65% of the total, while the opposition falls at 8.3%.
“Consequently, that electorate which fluctuates would sooner vote for the ruling party [than the opposition]. That is called a winners’ party, which is registered nowhere, but this class [of people] always gives its vote to winners, because they want to feel themselves to be winners,” said the sociologist.
According to Adibekyan, respondents trust the opposition more now than before, but they don’t consider it to be an influential force. More than half of respondents said they trust the ruling authorities. (Note: it’s possible that some respondents said they trust both the opposition and the government.)
“The president remains the most trusted face (17%), so every third [Armenian] citizen who follows politics trusts the president,” summed up Adibekyan.
The Sociometr survey was conducted in Oct. 2010 with the participation of 1,650 individuals from Yerevan and Armenia’s regions.