ATMOSPHERE OF FEAR

According to the “Gallup poll” new results the RA citizens afraid of expressing their political views.

The Armenian Sociological Association has sent to the parties the poll results made from October 27 to November 3, which has been prepared, systemized and analyzed by “Baltic Surveys/ The Gallup”. The international Republican Institute (IRI) has ordered the research, USAID has financed it.
1200 citizens of Armenia have been polled. It became clear that 49% of them think that the country developments are not right, and 41% of them think that the developments are right. 36% of citizens think that the economic situation in the country has taken a turn for the worse, and 32% of them think that the economy is improved in the country. 34% of the polled citizens said that the financial conditions of their family have become worse, and for 17 % of them it has been improved. 50% of them confirmed that they receive money from foreign countries.
According to the participants of the polling the main reason of the problems is unemployment (41%), social-economic condition (31%), NK conflict (19%), changeover of political forces and elections (3%).
In answer to the question what should the authorities of Armenia do to get the support of the majority, 32% of the polled citizens said that the authorities should open vacancies, 22% think that the salaries and pensions should be raised, and 20% think that social-economic conditions should be improved. Only 3% considered important the settlement of the NK conflict and establishment of democracy.

49% of citizens considers the NK as one of the regions of Armenia in the future, as an autonomous region in Armenia (28%), independent country (23%), as a part of Azerbaijan (0%). 79% of the polled citizens think that the NK conflict should be settled by peaceful negotiations and only 18% think that “using violence if it is necessary”.
The greatest mistakes of the current authorities made in the last year are: growth of prices (33%), insufficient struggle against corruption (11%), economic problems (8%), ignoring the laws (4%), and law infringements (2%). Though 68% of citizens answered that corruption and law infringements are very serious problems and 24% answered that those are serious problems enough. 56% of our population has negative attitudes towards the current government, and only 39% believe in the executive authority. 49% trust in the president\’s staff, 46% has a negative attitude towards it. Only 35% trust in the arties, and 62% has a negative opinion.
In answer to the question “Are the citizens of Armenia afraid of expressing their political views?” 31% of citizens said “The majority is afraid”, 28% said that a lot of people are afraid.