Expert: up to 1/3 of voters want their political parties to enter ruling coalition

PanARMENIAN.Net - Up to one third of Armenian voters, including 28% of Armenian National Congress (ANC) opposition bloc supporters, want the political forces they support to enter a ruling coalition, autumn 2011 poll data indicates.

As the Head of Sociometer sociological center Aharon Adibekyan told a news conference in Yerevan, “the weaker the political force, the more supporters seek to enter the ruling coalition. Thus, according to poll conducted, 23% of Prosperous Armenia party supporters want to enter a coalition, while at Orinats Yerkir party, 29% of its supporters expressed such a wish.”

The expert further cited more than two-fold drop in the number of ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s votes against 2007 as a negative example of leaving the coalition.

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) won a decisive victory at the parliamentary elections on May 6 gaining 44,02% of votes.

The coalition Prosperous Armenia party comes second with 30,12% of votes and the opposition ANC is placed third with 7,08%. The opposition parties Heritage (5,76%) and ARF Dashnaktsutyun (5,67%), as well as the third coalition Orinats Yerkir party (5,51%) also joined the new parliament.

RPA gained absolute majority of 69 seats in the 131-member National Assembly, 40 by proportional and 29 by majority system of voting.

Prosperous Armenia got 37 seats (28 by proportional and 9 by majority systems) and ANC was left with 7.

Dashnaktsutyun and Orinats Yerkir got 6 seats each (5 by proportional and 1 by majority systems), while Heritage got 5.