Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (left) with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Leaders' Wartime Popularity Waning
The popularity of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has returned to its prewar level after peaking in September, according to a poll by the Levada Center. The pollsters conclude that the euphoria of the victory in the war is wearing off. In August, before the military action in Georgia, 73 percent of Russians trusted Medvedev. Now that figure is 76 percent. In September, it was 83 percent. Attitudes toward Putin showed similar dynamics, with his rating going from 83 percent in August to 88 percent the following month, and settling back to 83 percent now.
The percentage of those who do not approve of Medvedev’s actions as president has grown from 14 to 27. The segment of the public that approves of the actions of the government has fallen from 66 to 59 percent. Those who think that the country “is going in the right direction” has fallen from 61 to 54 percent.
Levada Center press secretary Oleg Savelyev told Kommersant that public opinion has recovered from the influence of the war. Putin’s ratings remain higher than those of Medvedev because the public continues to hear his characteristic strongly-worded pronouncements, while Medvedev “is only trying to become a tough guy.”
The financial crisis that began in September has yet to make its impact felt on the Medvedev-Putin team, Savelyev said. Russians “aren’t frightened yet” because the stock market crisis has touched only a very narrow segment of society, without leading to delays in wage payments of mass firings. Furthermore, the federal television channels gave succeeded in convincing people that the crisis is not in Russia, but somewhere beyond its borders.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 17, 2008
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