Russians' discontent with authorities grows - poll
MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - The approval rating of President Vladimir Putin has dropped 6% over the past seven months, while the approval rating of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has declined even more, by 10%. A growing number of Russians believe the country is set on the wrong track, Levada-Center told Interfax on Thursday.
The approval rating of Putin stood at 69% in May; it dipped to 63% in November. Levada-Center polled 1,596 respondents in 130 residential areas in 45 regions on November 23-26.
The disapproval rating of the president is up, from 30% to 36%.
In the past month only the presidential approval rating declined by 4%, from 67% in October.
The approval rating of Medvedev decreased from 64% in May to 54% in November (it stood at 61% in October). The disapproval rating grew from 35% to 45% within seven months.
Putin has the highest confidence rating: 34% in November, 39% in October and 41% in July. The highest confidence rating of the president this year was in March, after he had won the election - 44%.
Medvedev ranks second with 20%; his confidence rating went down 4% over the past month. The prime minister also had the highest confidence rating of the year in March, 28%.
Levada-Center said that the confidence rating of Sergei Shoigu grew from 11% to 16% in November after his appointment as the Defense Minister. He is listed third by confidence ranking.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov ranks fourth (10%), and Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky falls in fifth place (8%).
Other persons with a high confidence rating are Civil Platform leader, businessman Mikhail Prokhorov (5%), Federation Council Spokesperson Valentina Matviyenko (4%), A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov (4%) and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill (4%).
Twenty-four percent of the respondents told Levada-Center they trusted no one.
The Russian government has the approval rating of 40%, while its disapproval rating amounts to 59%. The disapproval rating grew by 10%, from 49%, over the past month.
The disapproval rating of the State Duma has also grown since October, from 57% to 65%. The house's approval rating is down from 41% to 34% in November.
The number of Russians who believe that the country has taken the wrong course has grown from 33% in May to 44% in November. Forty percent are happy with the situation in the country, as against 49% seven months ago.
Forty-two percent doubt the ability of Prime Minister Medvedev's Cabinet to improve the situation in the country in the near future. Twenty-five percent are optimistic. The number of pessimists has grown by 12% since May, the sociologists told Interfax.
