Russians do not expect soonest government resignation – poll

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) Russians doubt the possibility of the soonest government resignation and expect the president and the prime minister to carry on a coordinated policy for the next few years, Levada Center said.

Sixty-four percent of the respondents polled in 130 towns and cities in 45 regions in late May said they did not believe that the government’s office might end soon; 16% had such expectations and 20% failed to make a forecast, Levada Center told Interfax.

The majority of Russians (66%) are confident that the president and the prime minister will be working in unison; 16% predict “the soonest appearance and escalation of conflicts” between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev and 18% are unable to project the development of relations in the national administration.

Fifty percent of Russians are aware of the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister – Head of the Government Administration Vladislav Surkov in early May. The majority of them think that Surkov had an influence on the formation of Russia’s existent political system (17% said he had a big influence, 45% called it medium, and 12% said it was small).

Some 46% of the respondents feel neutral about Surkov’s work in the Presidential Administration and the government, 6% praised him, 14% were critical, 19% said there were both cons and pros, and 15% failed to answer the question.

The majority (61%) said that Surkov was forced to tender his resignation. Twenty percent disagreed, and 19% were hesitant, the sociologists said.