Armenian President Armen Sarkissian ranked higher than Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a popularity rating among the country’s residents, based on the opinion poll of the International Republican Institute (IRI), reported vestnikkavkaza. The full report has not officially been published yet.

According to the poll, Pashinyan's rating is at 56%, while Sargsyan’s stands at 61%. The survey also covered the support of political parties.  According to the survey, the rating of the ruling bloc “My Step” is at 52%, “Prosperous Armenia” sits at 12%, the “Republican Party of Armenia” (HHK) is at 5.1%, while the Armenian Revolutionary Federation “Dashnaktsutyun” has a support rating of 3.5%.

In the previous survey, which was conducted in August 2018, Pashinyan had a rating of 91%, he was followed by the Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan (69%) and Armen Sarkissian (68%). The “My Step” bloc had a support of 66% ahead of Prosperous Armenia (13%), HHK (4%) and Dashnaktsutyun (2%). The surveyed population highly supported the direction in which Armenia was going with 73% saying that their country is going in the right direction.

The International Republican Institute (IRI) is a US-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide by helping political parties to become more issue-based and responsive, assisting citizens to participate in government planning, and working to increase the role of marginalized groups in the political process – including women and the youth. Its activities include assisting political parties and candidates develop their values and institutional structures, good governance practices, civil society development, civic education, women's and youth leadership development, electoral reform and election monitoring, and political expression in closed societies.