On 18 June, the Armenian branch of the Gallup International Association released their latest national polls for the upcoming elections. According to the polls, the “Armenia” bloc led by Robert Kocharyan is set to win the elections ahead of the ruling Civil Contract party led by the country’s acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.   

The head of Armenian branch of the Gallup International Association Aram Navasardyan said that in response to a question about which political force the respondents intended to vote for in the elections, 28.7% named the “Armenia” bloc, 10.8% the Civil Contract party, 5.4% the “I have honour” bloc led by Artur Vanetsyan, 5.4% the Prosperous Armenia party led by Gagik Tsarukyan and 5.2% the Bright Armenia party led by Edmon Marukyan. 

Going into more detail, the Civil Contract party has high support in rural communities (32.9%) and low support in Yerevan (16.4%). The “Armenia” bloc on the other hand has higher support in Yerevan (35.2%) and low support in rural communities (18.2%). The “I Have the Honour” bloc was mostly backed in Yerevan and less in the rural areas, while Prosperous Armenia had greater support from rural residents and less in Yerevan and provincial towns. Bright Armenia had 2% supporters in rural communities and 7.1% in Yerevan.

Navasardyan also emphasised that 51.1% of the respondents said that they would definitely take part in the elections, 11.4% said they would rather take part, 13.8% would rather not take part, and 22.9% did not intend to vote. He said the percentage of citizens who clearly intend to participate in the elections has decreased compared to the previous polls in 2018 December. In his opinion, this decline is associated with hot and intense competition and the intense negative vocabulary used by some of the parties. According to the findings of Gallup’s previous poll, published on 11 June, 24.1% of potential voters said they would vote for the “Armenia” bloc, and 23.8% for the Civil Contract party.

The online media outlet jamnews published a report on the media landscape during the election campaign. The experts from jamnews predicted that the Armenian National Congress (ANC) led by Levon-Ter Petrosyan would also enter the parliament alongside the five parties named by Gallup. Going to the topic of media coverage, jamnews highlighted that the Haykakan Zhamanak daily newspaper, the Armtimes.com website, Free news TV company, Ararat magazine and araratnews.am, Armenpress and the Public Television of Armenia were all owned or associated with Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party. On the other hand, Kocharyan’s bloc was associated with the Channel 5 TV company, the website Yerevan Today, the TV company PARA TV and the Yerkir Media TV company. 

The “I have honour” bloc was associated with the ArmNews TV company, tert.am, blognews, news.am, 168․am, Hayeli.am, Analitik.am, Armenia TV company and the Zhokhovurd newspaper. Prosperous Armenia was only associated with the Kentron TV channel, while Bright Armenia had no associated media sources, opting to promote its campaign through social media channels. The ANC was associated with the ilur.am news website and the Chorord Ishkhanutiun newspaper. 

The top candidates in the elections held their final speeches before the required election silence on 19 June. Pashinyan predicted a “crushing” election victory for his party. “The people of Armenia will certainly and undoubtedly win with a crushing percentage. And yes, everything is decided because the people of Armenia have already decided everything in their minds, hearts, and souls,” he stated. He emphasised that the last 8 months were the path to hell for him and his team, but that the people of the country gave them confidence.  

In his message to the Armenian people, Kocharyan wrote that on 20 June the country’s inhabitants would have the choice between a “dignified peace” and a “humiliated disgrace.” “I call on you: Let's improve our house, our Armenia together again! Let's establish lasting peace. Let's restore our dignity. Let's heal the wounds. Let's immortalise our heroes and convey meaning to their heroism. With our daily hard work, let’s create a healthy, educated, prosperous life for our children and our grandchildren. That should be the meaning of the choice we will make. And in general, the meaning of our life. I am confident that you will not be wrong. And you rest assured that everything will be fine. Towards a strong Armenia,” his message read.