Page 17 - RusRPTMar20
P. 17
slightly from the previous month from 67% in January, its highest level since September 2014.
Trust in Russian President Vladimir Putin has fallen to a little over a third (35%) in January, down by 4 pp compared to September 2019 according to a new poll by independent pollster the Levada Center. The trust rating is different from the approval rating and lower for all politicians.
Trust in Putin has slipped in the last few years as Russia’s economy and real incomes slipped in both the economy and real incomes. However, Putin’s personal popularity remains a whopping 68% according to Levada. Trust is down from a high in November 2017, when the confidence rating of the president was 59%; over the last two years, it has almost halved, down by 24 pp.
The latest trust rating has seen some other changes. Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu moved up to 19% just after Putin himself, whereas Foreign Minister,whowasreappointedforhis16thyearinthejobduringtherecent government reshuffle, maintained his third place, but saw his popularity increase slightly to 17% from 14% in September, when the last poll was organised.
Trust in Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) leader Vladimir Zhironovsky has fallen to the second slot in September to fourth place with 14%. And trust in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) leader Gennady Zhuganov ticked up very slightly to 7% from 6% in September, but still down from the 10% he enjoyed three years ago.
Perhaps most noteworthy was the collapse of trust in former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, which collapsed from 9% in September to 5% in January. Medvedev was the big loser in the recent government reshuffle, losing his job as PM to be appointed as the deputy head of the State Council, which is in the process of being upgraded to a state body, but it remains unclear what powers the revamped organ will have under the mooted constitutional changes this year.
Also noteworthy is anti-corruption blogger and opposition activist Alexei Navalny continues to barely register in the trust polls: trust in Navalny was 3% in January where he has constituently scored for the last years. While the international press’ love affair with the hansom and dynamic Navalny continues, to the Russian population he remains largely a non-entity as a politician, although he has much more influence as an anti-corruption campaigner.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin enters the polls
The new Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin enters the trust poll for the first time. The former head of the tax service kept a low profile until Putin picked him to head the government and debuts with 3% trust rating. Mishustin remains a relative unknown for the Russian people who were ambivalent about his credentials in the poll; another 4% said they don't trust him, according to Levada.
However, Levada has been following Mishustin’s popularity rating for several years and here there has been a radical change: respondents disapproved of
17 RUSSIA Country Report March 2020 www.intellinews.com
