Citizens of Armenia are not only electing a new National Assembly on Sunday: They are also voting on the future geopolitical direction of the country. On the table is either rapid EU integration or a return to Russia's sphere of influence.
A preelection survey commissioned by the Washington based NGO International Republican Institute (IRI) puts Civil Contract, led by pro-EU Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in first place, with 32% of respondents saying they would vote for the party.
The opposition traditionally has more pro-Russian views and is represented by three major forces that currently lag far behind the ruling party, according to the poll results. Some 7% of voters said they would support the "Strong Armenia" bloc run by a Russian billionaire of Armenian origin Samvel Karapetyan. He is currently under house arrest in Yerevan on charges of inciting a violent power grab as he publicly supported the Armenian Apostolic Church amid a bitter conflict between the church leaders and Prime Minister Pashinyan.
The political grouping "Armenia Alliance”, led by former president Robert Kocharyan who is reportedly a friend of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, is expected to garner 4% of the votes. The "Prosperous Armenia" party founded by business mogul Gagik Tsarukyan can likely count on the support of 2% of the Armenian citizens. Tsarukyan’s party is officially partnered with Russia's ruling 'United Russia' party.Armenia looks to EU after decades of relying on RussiaTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
