Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research

Half of Russians Yearn for Super-Power Status

February 04, 2008

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in the Russian Federation want the next president to make their country a powerful player in the global stage, according to a poll by Yury Levada Analytical Center. 51 per cent of respondents expect the successor of Vladimir Putin to return Russia to super-power status.

More than a third of respondents also expect the next head of state to keep law and order, ensure wealth equality, and continue with economic reforms but putting special attention to social protection. Only nine per cent of respondents expect the future president of Russia to establish good relations with the West.

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."

Russian voters renewed the State Duma in early December 2007. United Russia (YR)—whose candidate list was headed by Putin—secured 64.1 per cent of the vote and 315 of the legislature’s 450 seats. Under the country’s recently implemented proportional representation system, only three other political organizations—the Communist Party (KPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) and A Just Russia—elected lawmakers to the lower house.

In December 2007, Putin endorsed Dmitry Medvedev as a presidential candidate, and Medvedev said it would be of the "utmost importance" to have Putin as prime minister.

On Jan. 30, Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin and state electricity chief Anatoly Chubais—considered one of Russia’s top economists—made a public call for the government to tone down its aggressive foreign policy. Kudrin declared: "Our dependency on global economic ties, on our exports, is felt so strongly, that in the nearest future we need to adjust our foreign policy goals to guarantee stable investment." Kudrin added: "We really have to think about how much our foreign policy costs our economy."

The next presidential election in Russia is scheduled for Mar. 2.

Polling Data

What do you expect from the next president of Russia?
(Several answers allowed)

To return Russia to super-power status

51%

To keep law and order

45%

To ensure an equitable distribution of wealth

41%

To continue with reforms, but putting special attention to social protection

37%

To strengthen the role of the state in Russia’s economy

34%

To return the savings lost in the period of reforms

28%

To end the war in Chechnya

23%

To keep Russia on track for more reforms

15%

To achieve the reunification of the Soviet Union

9%

To establish good relations with the West

6%

Other

2%

Hard to answer

3%

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted Jan. 18 to Jan. 22, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

 

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