The protest movement in Russia appears to be drifting out of the public eye, a new opinion poll shows. But it isn’t losing whatever public support it has.
The poll conducted by Russia’s VCIOM service showed that just 44
per cent of Russians are aware of the latest large opposition
rally on May 6. This is 8 per cent less than the figure last year
at the peak of the protest movement.
Russians say disaffection with the Russian authorities in general
and living standards are the main reasons for the protest,
nominated by 21 and 10 per cent of respondents respectively. The
results of the parliamentary and presidential elections and
President Vladimir Putin’s policies were mentioned as the reasons
by 4 and 2 per cent of the people polled.
While aware of the protest rallies themselves, Russians appear to
be oblivious to the demands and slogans the opposition voiced
there. A majority, 68 per cent, of Russians failed to recall even
one slogan from the latest rally. The most recognized demands of
the opposition are those to change the government (6 per cent),
replace Putin as the president (5 per cent) and conduct fair
elections (4 per cent).
The opposition movement enjoys the steady support of 27 per cent
of Russians, according to the poll, which hasn’t changed much
since the last year. But only 7 per cent of respondents said they
are ready to vent off their protest mood rallying in the streets.
Roughly an equal number of Russians — 35 and 32 per cent — are
either indifferent towards or against the opposition.
Half of the respondents are sure that the opposition activists
have no secret motivation for joining the demonstrations, but 29
per cent believe that they are being paid for the action.
Twenty-three per cent of the respondents believe the protesters
have much time to spare and spend it at the rallies. About 11 per
cent suspect that the protesters are being forced to join the
demonstrations.
VCIOM polled 1,600 people in 130 Russian cities and towns across
42 regions. The statistical error of the results is no larger
than 3.4 per cent. The poll was conducted on May 18-19.
Head of the research center Valery Fedorov believes being in the
opposition was trendy in 2009, but now is falling out of vogue,
which explains the diminishing awareness of the protest events.
“The rallies have turned into routine. The actions are rare
and less numerous, they are not on the population’s agenda,”
he told Kommersant daily.
This article originally appeared on: RT