Pashinyan’s popularity keeps sliding, with just 15% trusting him – CRRC poll
Pashinyan’s approval continues to slide
Only 15% of respondents trust Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his ruling Civil Contract party, according to a poll conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC).
The survey was carried out between 27 July and 10 October last year and included 1,561 participants. Over half of those surveyed – 55% – said they do not trust any political force.
Former Armenian presidents also scored poorly. Serzh Sargsyan was trusted by just 2%, and Robert Kocharyan by 4%. As Kocharyan leads the parliamentary “Armenia” bloc, which includes the ARF Dashnaktsutyun party, the researchers also assessed its standing. Less than 2% of respondents expressed trust in Dashnaktsutyun.
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“Credibility of source is unclear”
Ruling party MP Eduard Aghajanyan said he was unfamiliar with the organization that conducted the survey, adding that “the credibility of the source is unclear” to him.
In his view, the ruling team still has work to do and must make every effort to govern more effectively:
“But I’m not saying that people are disappointed in the government or in Pashinyan. I believe the Civil Contract party should be doing more. We need to work more intensively to meet the expectations of society.”
Aghajanyan added that he would prefer to assess the ratings of the prime minister and the government team based on surveys carried out by what he described as more objective organizations. He did not specify which organizations he would trust more.
Parliament speaker confident ruling party will win elections
At a briefing in early May, Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan stressed that the country has a legitimately elected government and that the results of the 2021 snap parliamentary elections were not questioned by anyone.
“I’m confident that even if elections were held this Friday, Civil Contract would win. I’m sure it would win with 50+1%, and by 2026, when the next parliamentary elections are due, it will gain even more votes,” Simonyan said.
Another poll shows ruling party faring slightly better — but not by much
The decline in support for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party was also recorded by the International Republican Institute (IRI). According to a survey, only 16% of citizens say they trust the current prime minister.
In response to the question, “Which party or bloc would you vote for if parliamentary elections were held next Sunday?”, 20% said they would support the ruling party.
Just 2% said they would vote for the Republican Party, led by former president Serzh Sargsyan. The opposition “Armenia” bloc, headed by ex-president Robert Kocharyan, would also receive 2%.
The ruling party’s declining popularity is further reflected in past election results. In 2018, around 885,000 people voted for Pashinyan’s party. But in the 2021 snap elections, that number dropped by 197,450.
