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Russians Chide Government Actions on Economy
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Only a handful of people in Russia think the government is doing a good job in tackling the effects of the global financial crisis, according to a poll by the Yury Levada Analytical Center. Just eight per cent of respondents say the Dmitry Medvedev administration is doing a good job in this area, down five points since October 2008.
Most people, 56 per cent, say the government is doing an average job handling the economy during the crisis, while 32 per cent say it is doing a bad job—up five points in a year.
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 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.
Since 2007, defaults on so-called subprime mortgages—credit given to high-risk borrowers—in the United States have caused volatility in domestic and global financial markets and pushed the U.S. economy into a recession. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The crisis has affected the global financial and credit systems.
Russia’s economy has been greatly affected by plummeting energy prices caused in part by the volatility in international markets.
On Oct. 12, Medvedev acknowledged that Russia’s economy is in great trouble, declaring, "I must admit that we sank below our lowest expectations. The real damage to our economy was far greater than anything predicted by ourselves, the World Bank, and other expert organizations."
Polling Data
In your opinion, how is the government of Russia managing its tasks to tackle the financial crisis?
|
|
Oct. 2009 |
Oct. 2008 |
|
Good |
8% |
13% |
|
Average |
56% |
52% |
|
Bad |
32% |
27% |
|
Hard to answer |
4% |
9% |
Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Oct. 16 to Oct. 19, 2009. No margin of error was provided.