Election 2017: Republican Party of Armenia leads public opinion survey

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) turned out a leader in recent public opinion polls conducted jointly by Gallup International and Armenian Sociological Association.

It received 30,2% support by respondents in Yerevan and different regions of Armenia, the Association’s president, Gevorg Poghosyan, told reporters on Friday.

The survey, commissioned by the TV channel Yerkir Media in the run-up to the April 2 parliamentary election, covered 1,005 respondents. It was conducted between 18 and 27 March.

The political bloc led by Gagik Tsarukyuan, the Prosperous Armenia party's leader, came in the second with 29.1%. “We observe a 10% difference between the RPA and the Tsarukyan Alliance. That’s due to the stronger candidates on the RPA rating list, or probably their higher number,” he said, adding that the votes cast in favor of individual candidates will add to their parties’ votes.  

The survey also revealed other potential winners, including the political bloc Yelk (9%), Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun (9%), Armenian Renaissance (3%), Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian bloc (4%), Armenian National Congress – People’s Party of Armenia (3%) and Free Democrats (3%).

As for the expected turnout, 50% of the voters reportedly said that they will definitely head to polls, with another 35% expressing uncertainty but showing more inclination to participate in the voting.