(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many people in Russia are oblivious to a new regulation that compels top officials to submit income and property statements to public scrutiny, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. Only 13 per cent of respondents are fully aware of the new guidelines and have read some of the statements.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many people in Russia are oblivious to a new regulation that compels top officials to submit income and property statements to public scrutiny, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. Only 13 per cent of respondents are fully aware of the new guidelines and have read some of the statements.
More than half of respondents are unaware of the existence of the new rules, and have not read any documents. Seven-in-ten respondents who have seen the statements submitted by the government officials say they do not trust the information contained in them.
Russian voters renewed the State Duma in December 2007. United Russia (YR)—whose candidate list was headed by then president Vladimir Putin—secured 64.1 per cent of the vote and 315 of the legislature’s 450 seats. On that same month, Putin endorsed Dmitry Medvedev as a presidential candidate, and Medvedev said it would be of the "utmost importance" to have Putin as prime minister.
In March 2008, Medvedev easily won Russia’s presidential election with 70.28 per cent of the vote. In May, Medvedev was sworn in as president. His nomination of Putin as prime minister was confirmed by the State Duma in a 392-56 vote.
On May 18, Medvedev signed a series of decrees forcing officials to publish their annual incomes as part of an attempt to stem rampant corruption. Two days later, the Russian president discussed the topic, saying, "We must create incentives for legally acceptable behaviour through the help of regulatory documents, the media, and as a result of work by civil society institutions. And corruption must be not only illegal, it must become improper. This is probably the most difficult thing."
Polling Data
On the initiative of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, all Russian top officials submitted income and property statements this year. Do you know anything about that?
|
Yes, I am well informed about it and have already read some of the statements |
13% |
|
I have heard something about it from the mass media, friends and relatives, but I did not see the statements myself |
34% |
|
No, I do not know anything about it and I did not read any documents |
53% |
|
Hard to answer |
1% |
To respondents who saw the statements – Do you trust the data in the income and property statements provided by Russian officials?
|
Yes |
17% |
|
No |
70% |
|
Hard to answer |
13% |
Source: All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted on May 9 and May 10, 2009. Margin of error is 3.4 per cent.
