Interfax: Approval rating of Russian authorities on rise – poll

Kremlin and Saint Basil's

(Interfax – June 26, 2014) A record growth of the approval rating of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his political course continues, sociologists said. The approval rating of President Putin stood at 86 percent in June, Levada Center told Interfax.

The approval rating of the president grew 3 percent from 83 percet in May and 20 percet from 65 percent in January.

The disapproval rating shrank from 34 percet to 13 percet, the sociologists said citing a poll of 1,600 persons older than 18 in 130 populated localities in 46 regions on June 20-23. The statistic error does not exceed 3.4 percent.

According to Levada Center, Putin’s approval rating has reached a peak since 2000. Sociologists recorded similar digits only in 2007 and 2008, 81 percent and 83 percent, respectively.

The approval rating of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has been growing steadily since the year beginning, from 48 percet in January and 59 percet in March to 67 percent in late June. Thirty-one percent disapprove of the prime minister’s work now, against 51 percent in the beginning of this year.

The respondents were asked to name five to six politicians they trusted most. Fifty-two percent named Putin in June. The president’s confidence rating increased almost 20 percent in six months, from 34 percent in January.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is the first runner-up, with 21 percent now, 24 percent in May and 19 percet in January. He is followed by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with 15 percent (17 percent and 6 percent, respectively), D. Medvedev – 14 percent (20 percent and 13 percent), Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov – 9 percent (9 percent) and Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky – 8 percent (10 percent and 8 percent).

The June top ten of most popular politicians also included Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin (5 percent), Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia and Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko (4 percent each) and A Just Russia party leader Sergei Mironov (2 percent).

Twelve percent of the respondents said they had no trust in either Russian politician, and another 18 percent said they had no interest in politics.

Some 62 percent of the respondents said the country was on the right track. The percentage was smaller, 60 percent, in May and 43 percent in January. The opposite opinion was expressed by 22 percent of the respondents in June and 41 percent in January.

Sixty percent of the respondents generally approved of the government’s work (43 percent in January) and a half (51 percent) were content with the State Duma performance (36 percent).

Almost two-thirds of the respondents (65 percent) told sociologists they were generally satisfied with the work of their governors (the mayor in the case of Moscow) and 34 percent disapproved of their work. The number of disapproving respondents has declined 10 percent since the beginning of the year (44 percent).

The Public Opinion Foundation said on Wednesday two-thirds of the respondents (66 percent) wanted Putin to remain the Russian president after 2018.

The sociologists pointed out that 29 percet of the respondents wished Putin victory in the 2018 election in fall 2012 and 44 percent were against him. In the opinion of most respondents (55 percent), President Putin is doing better than he did in the first two periods of his office. The indicator has grown significantly since April 2013 (16 percent).

 

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