21.03.09

The Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) has released the results of a poll with 2,000 respondents in 100 locations across Russia. It indicates that Russian citizens are equaly divided between approval and disapproval of the government's performance. When asked to evaluate the federal government's current performance, 39% of respondents described it as poor - with an equal percentage describing it as good. The poll showed 37% of respondents having full confidence in the Cabinet, 32% with partial confidence, and 23% with no confidence. Over half of respondents said that the government is taking active measures to counter the crisis; 33% said it is not. And 39% of respondents said that the executive branch is willing but unable to protect ordinary citizens from the crisis.

According to the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), 31% of respondents disapproved of the government's performance in a poll done in early March (compared to 23% in a late 2008 poll).

Experts say that even though most Russian citizens are not prepared to participate in protests, and still say they trust the president and the prime minister, the number of citizens dissatisfied with the government's performance is set to grow. Demonstrative dismissals (like the recent replacement of the agriculture minister and several regional leaders) are unlikely to change the public mood.

Dmitri Orlov, general director of the Political and Economic Communications Agency, says: "Playing appointment-leapfrog will only disorganize the activities of the executive branch."

Sergei Mitrokhin, head of the Yabloko-United Democrats faction in the Moscow city legislature, says that what the Cabinet needs to rebuild public confidence is a "clear and transparent" counter-crisis plan. So far, citizens simply don't understand the reasoning behind the government's anti-crisis measures.

Dmitri Badovsky, Public Chamber member and deputy director of the Social Systems Institute, says that the authorities should adapt their economic jargon for a mass audience: "Before the crisis, nobody really cared about the arguments between the Finance Ministry and the Economic Development Ministry. But now everyone is interested in inflation, falling production, and exchange rate shifts. There is growing demand for explanations of macroeconomic details."

Last week, President Medvedev instructed the government to develop an anti-crisis plan that the public can understand. The first clear statements could be made as soon as today, when the Cabinet meets to discuss a new draft budget.

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Source: RBC Daily