RUSSIA: Popular Putin Set to Drive Development

By Kester Kenn Klomegah Reprint | | Print |

Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW, Dec 26 2005 (IPS) - The popularity of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been boosted by his commitment to social spending, even if questions persist about his authoritarian rule.

Putin’s approval ratings have reached a record 73 percent, with only 19 percent disapproving of him, according to a survey by the All-Russian Public Opinion Centre. Emergency situations minister Sergey Shoigu and Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky were the second and third most trusted leaders.

The survey was conducted October-November in more than 150 cities and towns in 46 territories across Russia.

Political analysts say Putin’s standing was boosted by his announcement in September to spend more than 4 billion dollars on public education, housing and agriculture.

“We’re seeing very good social policies by the government and the setting out of special national priority projects under the President, and all these are efforts directed towards improving the conditions and welfare of the deprived population,” Media Soyuz vice-president Yelena Zelinskaya told IPS. Media Soyuz is an independent organisation to protect media interests in Russia.

“But for these to be implemented depends on the regional governors and people’s own enthusiasm and development orientation,” she said.

Zelinskaya said Putin’s popularity followed the positive economic situation and also other policies that are encouraging foreign investment in the country. People have begun to accept a change from Soviet times when Russians were conditioned to believe that the state would provide for them, she said.

“All those attitudes of dependency have quickly faded away, and people now believe in individual or social group responsibility,” senior lecturer Alyona Ivanova from the Department of Public Relations and Mass Communication at the Russian University told IPS.

Ivanova said Russians’ hopes for democracy, including the free market, economic opportunities and liberalisation of politics, have risen under Putin despite some skepticism about both internal and external policies.

Official statistics show that wages are rising, and that the unemployment rate has dropped to less than seven percent – a figure that would be envied by some western European countries.

But not everyone is convinced that the picture is that rosy. The ratings are “political manipulation supported by and disseminated through the state controlled media,” Yury Korguniuk, director of Indem, an institute that aims to promote development of democratic institutions in Russia told IPS.

“The Kremlin’s public relations managers will continue to pursue positive things that have been accomplished over the years and try to ensure that the President’s image is largely maintained,” Korguniuk said.

“Everything possible would be done to keep President Putin in public focus until 2007 so as to get the next president in power, be it Putin or his suitable successor. But, there should be some kind of objectivity and political truth in the whole business.”

Putin’s new credit ratings are likely to be maintained for the long term, and people might at the last minute ask the President to continue in power even though such a step may be seen as unconstitutional, Korguniuk said.

“We can assess the improvement as significant progress provided the high rating is used as an effective vehicle to stimulate growth in the country’s socioeconomic sectors,” he said. “That will then be generally acceptance to the people.”