(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Vladimir Putin remains overwhelmingly popular in Russia, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. 55 per cent of respondents say they would vote for a party led by Putin in the election to the State Duma.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Vladimir Putin remains overwhelmingly popular in Russia, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. 55 per cent of respondents say they would vote for a party led by Putin in the election to the State Duma.
The survey did not ask respondents to support registered political organizations, but offered the name of specific leaders instead. The party of Gennady Zyuganov—the current leader of the Communist Party (KPRF)—is a distant second with six per cent. Support is lower for lists headed by Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov, and Yabloko (Liberal) leader Grigory Yavlinsky
Putin was elected to a second term as president in March 2004 with 71.31 per cent of all cast ballots. In April 2005, Putin ruled out seeking a new mandate, saying, "I will not change the constitution and in line with the constitution, you cannot run for president three times in a row." The next presidential election is tentatively scheduled for March 2008.
The next election to the State Duma is scheduled for Dec. 2. For the first time, all 450 lawmakers will be chosen through party-list proportional representation, with a seven per cent threshold. In the 2003 election, only four political parties—the pro-Kremlin United Russia (YR), the KPRF, the LDPR and the Motherland – National Patriotic Union (MDRT)—received more than seven per cent of the vote.
On Oct. 1, Putin accepted an offer to lead the United Russia (YR) list in the election to the State Duma, and called the possibility of becoming prime minister "entirely realistic."
Yavlinsky expressed dismay at Putin’s apparent intentions, saying, "These Stalin-type calls to be eternal, these expressions of gratefulness, these lumbering statements, the creation of this whole atmosphere, are a lot more significant than the formal validation of what everyone knew perfectly well. (…) If this becomes politics and if this United Russia, together with its cell, becomes the country’s governing system, then this is the prelude to very, very serious developments."
While 47 per cent of male respondents are willing to vote for Putin’s party, support jumps to 61 per cent among female respondents.
Polling Data
For which of the following parties would you vote for if the State Duma election took place this Sunday?
|
All |
Men |
Women |
|
|
Party of Vladimir Putin |
55% |
47% |
61% |
|
Party of Gennady Zyuganov |
6% |
7% |
6% |
|
Party of Vladimir Zhirinovsky |
4% |
7% |
3% |
|
Party of Sergei Mironov |
2% |
2% |
2 |
|
Party of Grigory Yavlinsky |
1% |
1% |
1% |
|
For another party |
1% |
1% |
– |
|
Would not vote |
16% |
21% |
12% |
|
Hard to answer |
15% |
14% |
15% |
Source: All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2, 2007. Margin of error is 3.4 per cent.
