Page 30 - RusRPTFeb19

Levada also updated its other political sentiment metrics, most of which stayed the same or slipped slightly.
Russian president Vladimir Putin personal popularity remains high and unchanged for the last four months in December at 66% approve, 33% disapprove.
However, the rest of the senior level of government remains extremely unpopular. The government approval rating fell from 42% in November to 37% in December and its disapproval rose from 57% to 63%.
More specifically the approval of both Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the Duma is down to 32% and 33% respectively, versus 67% and 66% disapproval.
Governors are fairing a lot better with 58% approval rating versus 39% disapproval, making the regional governors amongst the most popular branches of government.
Despite the malaise following the tax and retirement age increases overall a tiny majority of Russians still believe that the country is going in the right direction with 45% agreeing with this sentiment versus 44% saying its is going in the wrong direction.
And even if Russians are not happy with their government the propensity to protest remains at low levels although increased sharply last year: the propensity to protest with political demands is 22%, up from last year’s low of 8%. And the propensity to protest with economic demands also more than doubled to 30%, up from last year’s low of 8%.
30 RUSSIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com