Interfax: 41% of Russians See Putin as Ideal Leader

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 10, 2013) Almost half of Russian people consider President Vladimir Putin an ideal or “close to ideal” president of Russia, a nationwide survey conducted by Levada Center said.

Overall, 64 percent of respondents said that they approve of the president’s dealings. Of the 41 percent of people who consider Putin an ideal leader, 6 percent said the current President has no faults at all, Kommersant reported Monday.
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However, 46 percent of those polled, while stopping short of calling Putin a bad leader, disagree that he is ideal.

“Most people see stains on the sun. It’s normal when people are critical of their leader, it shows the sanity of the respondents,” said Levada Center deputy director Alexei Grazhdankin.

The poll, conducted in May, indicates that 62 percent of respondents agree that Vladimir Putin takes responsibility for what is happening in the country, 61 percent agree that he has an inherently good strategic vision for the country’s problems, and 45 percent believe that the president is attentive to the needs of citizens.

Forty-one percent agree that Vladimir Putin asserts domination over his subordinates and 36 percent said that he is not rely on popular opinion for making decisions.

In March, another poll conducted by the Levada Center revealed that only 22 percent want to see Putin re-elected when his term ends in 2018.