(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The vast majority of people in Russia think the president should be the most powerful political figure in the country, according to a poll by the Yury Levada Analytical Center. 68 per cent of respondents share this opinion, while 11 per cent think the prime minister should be responsible for supreme power in the Russian Federation.

In addition, nine per cent of respondents say the lower house or State Duma should have the highest political power, while 12 per cent are undecided. The proportion of respondents who believe the president should have the most power in Russia has increased by 20 points since 2000.

Vladimir 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 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. 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.

On Mar. 14, Medvedev easily won Russia’s presidential election with 70.28 per cent of the vote. On May 7, Medvedev was sworn in as president. His nomination of Putin as prime minister was confirmed by the State Duma the next day, in a 392-56 vote.

On May 29, Putin met with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and French prime minister François Fillon in Paris. Both French leaders assured Putin that they will push for a trade deal between Russia and the European Union (EU) when France assumes the EU’s rotating presidency on Jul. 1. Michael Emerson, a former EU ambassador to Moscow, said the meeting underscores that Putin "remains the pre-eminent power’’ in Russia.

Polling Data

In your view, who should be responsible for supreme power in Russia?

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from May 16 to May 19, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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