Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

The latest poll of Gallup International showed that most of Armenians disapproved of the presidential elections held on February 18.

Presenting the poll results, head of the Armenia office of Gallup International Association Aram Navasardyan said that only 30 percent of respondents positively assessed the elections. Over 62 percent of respondents gave a negative assessment of the vote and 7 percent had difficulty providing a definite answer.

Seven candidates had joined the election race. According to official data announced on Feb.25, incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan won with 58.64 percent of the votes. The opposition Heritage party leader Raffi Hovhannisyan ranked second with 36.74 percent.

Navasardyan said 47 percent of respondents believe the situation in the country will not significantly change with the re-election of Sargsyan, and 22 percent of respondents expect it to change for the worse.

The poll, which involved 1,067 respondents, was conducted on April 12-20 and covered the presidential elections, functioning of the police and political events in Armenia.

Meanwhile, the defeated presidential candidate, Hovhannisyan, expressed his intention to create a civil movement. A civil council meeting has been reportedly held at the initiative of Hovhannisyan in the capital Yerevan.

Hovhannisyan said that the main goal of the initiative is civil deviation from the country's illegitimate authorities.

"They do not have the courage to recognize the victory of the people," he said.