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On November 5,2019, during the program “Frankly Speaking” on “Yerkir Media” TV Company, the TV host and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) member Gegham Manukyan referred to Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that Education, Culture and Sports Minister Arayik Harutyunyan cannot resign because of the whim of a team with zero political influence. Manukyan stated that even though Dashnaktsutyun is not in the National Assembly, that same National Assembly enjoys only 8.1% of public trust;
“ If by saying 0% the Prime Minister means that Dashnaktsutyun is not present in the National Assembly, then let me bring just one fact as a counter argument. On November 13, the companion of the Prime Minister’s team and their eager supporter Dainel Ioannisyan’s organization, published a survey results, according to which only 8.1% of Armenian citizens trust the National Assembly, the same National Assembly, the 88-member majority of which was elected just one year ago with 70.44% of votes. In one year, his political team has lost its credit almost ten times,” said Gegham Manukyan.
The Fact Investigation Platform decided to check this informationt and find out whether Gegham Manukyan’s statement is true.
What sociological survey is the reference made to?
In June 2019, Advanced Public Research Group NGO (hereinafter APR Group) conducted a sociological survey in all regions of Armenia and Yerevan within the sub-grant project provided by the Union of Informed Citizens Consulting NGO.
The survey examined what sources citizens use when checking information, what media outlets they follow, whether they trust politicians, parties, and so on. The survey also examined the level of public trust towards various institutions.
Asked how much they trust the National Assembly, 8.1 percent of the 1,200 respondents said they trust the institution a lot, 49.9 percent said they trust it to some extent, 20.4 percent does not really trust, and 18.9 % said they had no trust towards this institution.
As it becomes clear from the survey and the table below, 8.1 percent related to the respondents that have the most trust in the National Assembly, but about 50 percent of those surveyed still trust this institution. Whereas, according to Gegham Manukyan, “only 8.1% of Armenian citizens trust the National Assembly.”
It should also be noted that Gegham Manukyan is manipulating the information by linking the figures of the National Assembly with the “My Step” bloc: “the same National Assembly, the 88-member majority of which was elected just one year ago with 70.44% of votes,” announced Manukyan, whereas, these figures were about the trust towards the National Assembly as an institution, not the parties.
In this context, Manukyan notes that Pashinyan’s political team has lost its credit almost 10 times. However, the survey found that when asked the question “If the parliamentary elections were held this Sunday, which political party or bloc would you vote for?” 60.8 percent of the respondents mentioned “My Step” alliance.
What are the results of other researches?
Nevertheless, the Fact Investigation Platform decided to study other researches as well to find out what citizens thought about the National Assembly.
In July 2019, according to a survey results released by the International Research Institute (IRI), assessing the overall activities of the National Assembly, 62% of respondents rated the work of the National Assembly as favorable and 34% unfavorable. Eight percent of respondents gave no answer.
Meanwhile, assessing the work of this institution in terms of open and transparent work, 18 percent of respondents found it very favorable, 47 percent favorable to some extent, 24 percent somewhat unfavorable, and 9 percent disliked the work of this institution.
Moreover, according to a survey conducted by the same organization in October 2018, 27% of the respondents rated the performance of the National Assembly as positive and 70% as negative.
When asked how they rate the performance of institutions in terms of transparency and openness, only 6 percent of respondents rated it very open and transparent. 31 percent rated it rather open and transparent, while 34 percent rated it less open and transparent, 26 percent of respondents did not rate it as open and transparent at all.
Based on all these information we can conclude that the activity of the National Assembly, regardless of the political team, has not always been satisfactory among the citizens. Thus, Gegham Manukyan’s claim that only 8.1% of citizens trust the National Assembly is manipulative.
Karine Kirakosyan
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