Only 70% of the voters intend to use their right of voting - Sociologist Aharon Adibekyan.

Sociologist Aharon Adibekyan thinks U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern should apologize to the Armenian people for his statement in which he said that only 12% of the population believes in free and fair elections.

"Armenians do not suffer from schizophrenia. They are normal people who have taken the path of democracy. We expect Mr Heffern to apologise to our people for the offense or punish those who provided him with wrong information," said Mr Adibekyan.

Anyway, the sociologist partially agrees with the U.S. official.

"The U.S. Ambassador is right to think that 12% of Armenia's citizens believe that the country will hold free and fair elections which will fully comply with European standards. But those who are skeptical about the elections are divided into two groups, with 27,3% thinking that violations will not affect the election outcome and 29,9% predicting gross violations," he said.

A poll conducted among 1650 adults suggests that 2/3 of the population believe that violations will be minor and will not affect the results of the elections. 29-30% of those surveyed said they were still undecided about their participation in the polls and only 2,8% is ready to take bribe.

Mr Adibekyan is convinced that most Armenians are intelligent people who will refuse bribe, viewing it as offence to their dignity.

The sociologist believes that about 1,4 million people will participate in the May 6 parliamentary elections.