Opinion polls convey general sentiment, but should not be trusted fully - Putin
MOSCOW. Oct 6 (Interfax) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he has misgivings about opinion polls which indicate that the number of citizens who want to leave Russia has increased sharply, and he confirmed that political change will be gradual in Russia.
"There is a good proverb: Fish seek deeper waters, Man seeks a better life," Putin said at the Russia Calling investment forum in remarks about a participant's statement that about 22% of respondents in a recent opinion poll said they want to leave Russia.
"Again, we must compare how many people leave Russia and how many leave other countries," Putin said.
Citing his recent talks with the chief of the Federal Border Service, Putin said that migrants from Russia make no problems for European countries, because "their number is minimal there."
"People are giving the signal that there are things they dislike. This is clear," he said.
Putin also said that he heeds figures provided by sociologists. "But I normally divide them by 100 as a minimum," he said.
"There is one more factor - a factor of political nervousness and uncertainty. But we - I and the incumbent president - have sent out a clear signal to the nation. We are not going to ruin or break anything. We are going to develop our political system," he said.
"We have a lot of political bustlers, running around in a flurry of activity and wielding a saber in all directions, driven by the desire to cut everything to pieces. We have gone through all of this already," the prime minister said.
Putin cited The International, the Soviet Union's first national anthem: "We will destroy the world of violence to the ground and build a new world of our own. Those who were nothing will become all."
"We remember these lines from our childhood. But what has come of it? The outcome was that everything collapsed in the 1990s," he said.
"We must stop shredding and cutting everything and running without looking back. We must calculate and assess everything attentively and define the final destination and move confidently toward it," Putin said, adding, "in that case the sentiment will start changing."
"It is not an easy task but we are strong enough to cope," Putin said.