Sociologist forecasts parties’ rating ahead of polls.

The ruling coalition parties – the Republican and Prosperous Armenia – will be major players ahead of the May parliamentary election, according to a sociologist.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Aharon Adibekyan, the director of the independent sociological center Sociometer, unveiled the results of their recent survey, noting that the political parties’ rating may change before the polls.

The expert said the survey was based on a special methodology which revealed 17.9% and 17% ratings for the ruling parties. As for the opposition forces – the Armenian National Congress (ANC) and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D) – he said their ratings were be 4% and 2.7%, respectively.

“Prosperous Armenia will rank as the second party, but never the third. The ANC is in more modest positions at the moment but we never know; their coming rally may increase their reputation,” he said, pointing out to a 1%-2% likelihood of errors.