February 7, 2013 - 14:39 AMT
Polls: candidate Ghukasyan has highest anti-rating

The public opinion polls GALLUP International Association Armenia Office conducted on Feb 2-5 revealed that presidential candidate Andrias Ghukasyan has the highest anti-rating.

As the organization president Aram Navasardyan and research department head Gayane Dajunts told Feb 7 press conference, 22% of the respondents said they would never vote for Andrias Ghukasyan, 21% - for the incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan, 20% - for former prime minister Hrant Bagratyan, with 11% and 4% voicing reluctance to support literature expert Vardan Sedrakyan and Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian.

68% of the respondents expressed readiness to cast their ballots for Serzh Sargsyan, 24% - for Raffi Hovannisian, 5% - for Paruyr Hayrikyan, 2% - for Hrant Bagratyan, with Vardan Sedrakyan and Aram Harutyunyan to gain 0.3% of votes each. As for Andrias Ghukasyan and Aram Melikyan, none of the respondents voiced willingness to vote for them if the elections were scheduled for Sunday, Feb 10.

Summarizing the negative and positive opinions about the candidates, the survey results indicate that Raffi Hovannisian would get 24%, Hrant Bagratyan would garner 2% votes, with Andrias Ghukasyan receiving the most negative responses.