Few Russians know about and believe in opposition Coordination Council – poll

(Interfax – November 8, 2012) Only 5 per cent of people surveyed by Russian pollster FOM consider themselves to be properly informed about the opposition Coordination Council (CC), Interfax news agency reported on 8 November, citing the latest survey data.

Another 19 per cent of the 1,500 respondents from 43 Russian regions said they had “heard something” about the Council before. But most people – 74 per cent – only learnt about its existence in the course of the survey.

At the same time, 21 per cent would like the CC to become a real political force, describing its members as “worthy and influential people” and saying that the body was not elected in vain. However only 8 per cent of the polled people believe this could actually happen.

One-third of respondents (34 per cent) would not like for the CC to come to power, saying its members “are not trustworthy” and “do not have mass public support”. Roughly the same share – 35 per cent – do not think that the CC has real chances of acquiring political power.

The CC was elected through an on-line vote on 20-22 October. It comprises 45 representatives of the so-called “non-systemic” opposition and includes protest leaders Aleksey Navalnyy and Sergey Udaltsov, popular media personalities Kseniya Sobchak and Dmitriy Bykov, and others.