Medvedev-led government still fails to live up to Russians’ expectations – poll

(Interfax – MOSCOW, August 8, 2013) The performance of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s government, which was appointed a little more than a year ago, continues to draw criticism from quite a large number of Russian citizens, Levada Center sociologists told Interfax on Wednesday, referring to the results of a recent public opinion survey.

Twenty-three percent of respondents said in July 2012 that they believed in the government’s ability to change the situation in the country for the better, the sociologists said. The number of such respondents stood at 25% in May 2013, but declined to 16% in the end of July, they said.

The number of respondents who do not think that the government is able to improve the situation in Russia grew from 35% in July 2012 to 44% in July 2013. Thirty-three percent of those polled were undecided, the sociologists said.

The number of Russian citizens who criticize the government’s efforts to tackle economic tasks grew from 32% in January to 42% in the end of July. The number of respondents who are satisfied with the government’s economic efforts declined from 57% to 48%, and the number of those who praised these efforts dropped from 8% to 6%.

The poll was conducted in 45 Russian regions in late July and involved 1,600 people.

Its results show that the biggest complaint remains the government’s inability to halt consumer price growth and respond to falling incomes, although the number of respondents who have this complaint declined from 46% in January to 43% in July.

Respondents to the survey also criticized the government’s social security policies (29%), its inability to sort out economic problems facing the country (23%), the corruption-ridden executive branch of power and civil servants’ tendency to put their personal interests above all else (23%), and the absence of a thoroughly considered economic development program (19%).

Other complaints target the cabinet’s measures to ensure citizens’ security and combat crime (16%), as well as its steps to reduce unemployment rates.

Fourteen percent of those polled criticized the government for acting in the interest of what they called semi-legal capital, or in the interest of foreign capital (8%). However, the number of Russian citizens who say they have no complaints about the country’s government grew from 5% to 16%. Seven percent of respondents were undecided.

The results of the Levada Center’s survey also show that Medvedev’s work as Russian prime minister scored five points on a 10-point scale.

Medvedev’s job approval rating declined from 57% in January to 52% in July, as compared with 59% a year ago, the Levada Center said.