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73% of respondents in Armenia have strongly positive opinions about actions of demonstrators who protested in Bagramyan Avenue of Yerevan against the hike in electricity tariffs, Aram Navasardyan, Director of Gallup International Association, said at a press conference today when presenting the results of a poll, during which 1,106 people were surveyed on July 6-13.

When asked about their opinion of demonstrators’ actions, 73% said they hold a strongly positive opinion, 22% had a more positive than negative opinion, 2% said their opinion was more negative, 2% had a negative opinion, and 1% found it difficult to answer the question.

Aram Navasardyan said that in conducting the poll, they attempted to reveal Armenian residents’ opinions about the possible organizer of those rallies. 90% said the rallies in downtown Bagramyan Avenue were a self-organized social movement aimed against the power price rise.

Only 2% expressed an opinion that foreign forces were behind the rallies, another 2% said the rallies were organized by political forces. Besides, 2% of respondents said the rallies were organized by the authorities to distract society’s attention from other problems.

To remind, ‘No to Plunder’ civic initiative staged in July mass rallies against the proposed rise in power tariffs. On June 28 the rally participants who blocked for over two week Yerevan’s Bagramyan Avenue - where the presidential residence, the parliament, the constitutional court and several embassies are located – divided into two groups. Following the June 27 statement by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, members of No to Plunder initiative called on the protesters to leave the avenue and return to Liberty Square nearby. Some of the demonstrators refused to do so, while others moved to Liberty Square. On July 6 the police unblocked Bagramyan Avenue, restoring normal traffic in the city.