Is Armenia, in general, moving in the right or wrong direction? According to 52 percent of the people living in Armenia, in the wrong direction, according to 26 percent, in the right direction, 12 found it difficult to answer. These data were published on the initiative of the International Republican Institute (IRI) in 2023 due to the survey conducted in January-March.
The percentage of those people who consider that the country is going in the right direction has decreased significantly. That is very low and has never been this low. During the “Aravot” “Areresum” (“Confrontation”) program, political technologist and analyst Vigen Hakobyan said in this regard.
“I would like it to be clear what is the right direction, the wrong direction, what components are involved – I guess security, social issues, justice, and so on.”
According to him, this is a “kitchen” complaint, and Armenia entered a stage of stagnation. “But it also shows that some serious protestant energy is already built up, perhaps even a protestant electorate, waiting for its leader.”
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It is impossible to quote some survey results without juxtaposing them with the election slogan “There is a future” of the ruling “Civil Contract” party. Eighteen percent of the respondents answered that there is “faith that the future will be better,” in July 2021, according to the IRI poll, 26 percent gave this answer; that is, the number of those who have faith in the future has decreased. Twenty-six percent now only hope that the future will be somewhat better, 35 percent fear it, and 20 percent state that they have completely lost faith.
Political scientist Stepan Danielyan, in particular, mentioned: If I was asked whether or not there is a future, will the future be better, I would answer there is a future, and it will be better. Because if you say the future will be wrong, living and doing everything is pointless. But the question is different: is there a future under the leadership of this government? Is there a future if there are no changes in the country?
Thirty-five percent of the respondents answered that there is a “feeling of insecurity, anxiety, fear for the future”․ In July 2021, 21 percent of the respondents gave this answer; that is, the number of those who feel anxiety has also increased. Twenty percent answered there is “complete disappointment, lack of faith in any improvement”; in 2021, 17 percent thought so. Vigen Hakobyan found it surprising that only 35 percent do not feel safe. “I think it is high time not only to feel that we are not safe but to be afraid for the present, not the future.” In other words, the tendency for the growth of these negative attitudes is still going at a relatively low pace because the situation in our country, both in Armenia and even more so in Artsakh, requires different speeds.
More than half of the respondents claimed that the policy of the RA authorities regarding Nagorno Karabakh had gone backward. 93% of the survey participants stated that Azerbaijan represents a political threat to Armenia, 89% said Turkey, 24% Russia. According to citizens, Turkey represents the highest economic threat, followed by Azerbaijan and Russia. Accordingly, do the government’s policies, which refer to the “peace treaty” and the attempts to improve relations with Turkey, not reflect the public’s mood? Stepan Danielyan responded: “It will be funny if they say that there is progress or regression in the matter of Artsakh… they destroyed everything. It takes a high percentage of cynicism to call this a step backward.”
Stepan Danielyan also expressed the opinion that the majority of the public is primarily interested in social issues rather than the problems of Artsakh and even Syunik. Meanwhile, according to the survey by the International Republican Institute, 60 percent of the population of Armenia mentioned national security and border problems as the primary problems in the country, which is more than twice the number of those who consider economic issues to be the immediate problems.
In response to the mention, Mr. Danielyan said that the most critical security issues are related to other questions. “But in reality, when there are discussions in focus groups, most people are primarily interested in social issues. And the biggest emotions that cause social discussions: salary, etc. People say: We are hungry, we can’t support our family, what Karabakh, what Syunik?”
The entire conversation is in the video
Anna ISRAYELYAN
