Interfax: Over a quarter of Russians don’t object to restoration of monarchy – poll

Romanov Family Photo

MOSCOW. Nov 10 (Interfax) – About 28% of Russian citizens do not object to the idea of restoring the monarchy, said VTSIOM pollster General Director Valery Fyodorov.

“Twenty-eight percent of the respondents polled in March supported this idea, or, at least, do not object to it. But no one in this group is an active proponent of the monarchy, as no one sees who could actually fit the role of the monarch,” Fyodorov said at a conference at the Manege exhibition center, dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

Thirteen percent of those polled said a Russian politician could assume the role of monarch following election in a referendum, or at a national assembly. Only 6% of those surveyed said a representative of the House of Romanov, the last royal dynasty in Russia, could become Russia’s monarch.

Fyodorov also said that 50% of respondents think Russia’s president must not profess any other religion except Orthodox, 14% said he could and 29% said this is of no importance.

The 12th church and public exhibition and forum, “Orthodox Russia and National Unity Day. The House of Romanov,” is to last until November 19.

Russian Cinematographers Union President Nikita Mikhalkov said he was unpleasantly surprised to learn that many of the Russian citizens hail the birth of an heir to the throne in Britain.

“It’s the countries that deprived our royal house of an heir! What a shallow way of thinking! How obviously missing the national awareness is in the minds of our contemporaries to rejoice at this!” Mikhalkov said.

He said the 1990s in Russia’s history must be given a special assessment. “We must give an assessment to what happened to Russia in the 1990s without going screamy or hysterical, and without taking to the streets. We must acknowledge that it was a catastrophe. A crime committed. Whether by accident, or design. We can see today that farming and industrial production were destroyed, and a huge number of military enterprises fell into private hands,” Mikhalkov said.

Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky proposed inviting opposition politicians to the exhibition.

“I think special courses should be organized for politicians, especially beginners, first of all those who want to hold rallies and start everything from scratch. The exhibition carries an enormous political and philosophical message in this respect,” he said.

A poll to find out what Russian citizens think about the idea of restoring the monarchy was conducted in March 2013. A report released then says that 70% of respondents see this as either impossible, or wrong.

Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed oppose the monarchy and said that autocracy is a thing of the past in Russia. Asked to choose between monarchy and the republic, 11% said they would prefer monarchy, but 82% said the current republican form of government is the best for the Russian state.

Meanwhile, even respondents who are loyal to the idea of restoring the monarchy as a form of government, said they do not see who could actually claim the monarch’s role, and their percentage has grown from 19% to 24% over the past six years. Asked to improvise on the theme, respondents said hypothetical candidates could be chosen from among public figures or politicians (13%), rather than among Russia’s royal descendants (6%), according to VTSIOM.

Another poll, conducted by the Levada Center pollster in May 2013, suggests that 10% of Russians want the monarchy to be restored and 76% oppose this idea, while 14% were undecided.

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