(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – No other political party matches the popularity of the governing United Russia (YR) in the country, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. 55 per cent of respondents would vote for United Russia in the next election to the State Duma.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – No other political party matches the popularity of the governing United Russia (YR) in the country, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. 55 per cent of respondents would vote for United Russia in the next election to the State Duma.
The Communist Party (KPRF) is a very distant second with eight per cent, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) with five per cent, and the opposition movement A Just Russia with four per cent.
Russian voters renewed the State Duma in December 2007. United Russia—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 Jul. 19, Russian lawmakers approved a controversial bill granting new powers to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB)—the country’s domestic spy agency. These include the power to warn people that they are "on the boundary" of committing a crime, and imposing fines or short jail sentences on people who obstruct the work of FSB agents.
Human rights organizations and opposition parties have warned that the new law is reminiscent of former KGB "prevention" techniques. Vladimir Vasiliyev, chairman of the Security Committee and a lawmaker with United Russia, responded to critics saying, "The legislation measures up to the highest and most humanistic standards of a state governed by the rule of law."
Polling Data
Which party would you vote for in the election to the State Duma?
|
|
Jul. 2010
|
Jun. 2010
|
May 2010
|
|
|
United Russia (YR)
|
55%
|
52%
|
54%
|
|
|
Communist Party (KPRF)
|
8%
|
8%
|
8%
|
|
|
Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR)
|
5%
|
5%
|
5%
|
|
|
A Just Russia
|
4%
|
4%
|
4%
|
|
Source: All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted on Jul. 25 and Jul. 26, 2010. Margin of error is 3.4 per cent.
