Page 18 - RusRPTApr19

2.6 Putin & government’s popularity
Russian president Vladimir Putin popularity has remains flat since the start of the year at 64% approving him and 34% disapproving, according to independent pollster the Levada Center – the same level it has been since last summer when his approval rating fell from the 80s it was in the first half of 2018.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approval ratings remains the mirror image of Putin’s with only 33% approving of him and 64% disapproving – also unchanged since the much higher approval in the first half of 2018, but still only in the 40s.
The ratings of the government improved marginally to 40% approve and 58 disapprove – but the government’s poor image with the population has been pretty consistent for years, fluctuating by plus/minus 10% at best since 2017.
There was a mild uptick in the answer to “is the country going in the right direction” with 48% saying it was, up from 42% in January, and 44% saying its is not. Still, these results are still well down from the 58% that thought Russia was going in the right direction a year earlier.
Finally the propensity to protest has receded somewhat with 28% of those polled saying it was possible they would protest with political demands, down from 30 in November, and 34% saying they may protest with economic demands in February, down from 37 in November.
18 RUSSIA Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com