42% of Russians say govt. can’t make country better: poll

PanARMENIAN.Net - Only 16 percent of Russians think that the federal government could improve the country in the foreseeable future (down from 45 percent in July 2010 and 21 percent in July 2011), while 42 percent think it could not, reveals a poll published Wednesday, Aug 7, according to RIA Novosti.

Only 5.9 percent of respondents to a survey conducted last month by the independent Levada Center pollster said the Russian government is doing a good job. A principal complaint was that the state was unable to deal with rising prices and provide sufficient social security.

A fifth of respondents said the government lacks sufficient means of dealing with a “crisis” (23.4 percent) and is highly corrupt (21.1 percent).

The federal government, overseen by the prime minister, has an average approval rating of 4.83 percent, down from 5.96 percent in April 2011 and 6.51 percent in April 2010.

Levada Center deputy head Alexei Grazhdankin told Gazeta.ru that the evaluation of the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev government is closely linked to the assessment of the his personal performance: Whereas last year, 59 percent of Russians approved of Medvedev’s work, so far this year his approval rating has fallen to 52 percent.

The poll, conducted on July 18 to 22, used a nationwide sample of 1,601 adults across 130 residential areas. The statistical margin of error did not exceed 3.4 percent.