Independent pollster reports falls in Putin, government, ruling party ratings

(Interfax – May 15, 2013) A poll conducted by Russia’s leading independent polling organization, the Levada Centre, has revealed a drop in the approval ratings of President Vladimir Putin, the federal government and the ruling One Russia (United Russia) party, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 15 May.

The results of the poll, conducted between 19 and 23 April among 1,601 respondents located across Russia, were also published on the Levada Centre’s website (tinyurl.com/caoew4v).

Asked if they approved of Putin’s performance as president, 57 per cent of those polled said that they did and 35 per cent said that they did not, with the rest unable to answer the question. The respective figures in a poll the Levada Centre conducted in October 2012 were 61 per cent and 33 per cent.

A total of 42 per cent of those polled said that they approved of the Russian government’s performance, while 51 per cent said that they did not. The figures in the October 2012 poll were 48 per cent and 44 per cent.

Asked which party they would vote for if State Duma elections were held the following Sunday, 24 per cent of those polled chose One Russia, with the Communists in second place on 12 per cent. However, the highest proportion of respondents – 28 per cent – said that they would not vote at all, while 20 per cent were unable to answer the question.

According to the Levada Centre website, in a similar poll conducted a month earlier, in March, 34 per cent said that they would vote for One Russia.