The popularity of most of non-system opposition leaders stopped rising. Their support by the public has stayed at the same level or even decreased.
MOSCOW, April 23, 2013. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data concerning the following questions: whether Russians know the leaders of non-system opposition; how they treat them, what Navalny is known for; what feelings they have about him; what Russians think about his political activity.
Alexey Navalny is not the most popular opposition leader: 53% of respondents know him in a varying degree; 47% have heard about him during the poll. More recognizable persons are Boris Nemtsov (78%), Garry Kasparov (76%), and Mikhail Kasyanov (68%).
The attitudes of Russians towards Alexey Navalny have recently worsened: among those who know him the share of persons perceiving him negatively has increased from 31 to 51% since February last year. The proportion of those who treat him positively is 19%. The shares of those who negatively perceive the following persons have also grown: Evgeniya Chirikova (from 39 to 45%), Sergey Udaltsov (from 39 to 45%), and Boris Nemtsov (from 50 to 59%).
Russians do not know much about the activities of Alexey Navalny: all they know is that his activity involves opposition actions (14%), fight against corruption, and social and political activities (2%, for each).
Those who more or less know A.Navalny are indifferent to what he does (40%). The remainder treat him negatively: distrust - 15%, trust – only 2%. Eight percent of Russians are skeptical about him: 7% feel antipathy; 6% - condemnation; the share of those who feel liking or respect towards him is 6% (per each group).
Those who know who Navalny is say that he does politics because he is striving for power (13%) or fighting against the current regime (10%). Rarer respondents say that he is fighting for justice (6%) or against corruption (3%). Seven percent are confident that this is nothing but a publicity move, but others mention that he wants to be rich, destabilize the situation in the country, or he does what the West tells him to do (3% per each group).
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on April 13-14, 2013. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 130 sampling points in 42 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
Which of the following politicians and public persons do you know? | |||||||||
| I know him/her well | I have heard something | I hear for the first time | ||||||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 | February 2012 г | September 2012 | April 2013 | February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Nemtsov Boris | 37 | 36 | 30 | 44 | 40 | 48 | 20 | 25 | 22 |
Kasparov Garry | - | 31 | 35 | - | 38 | 41 | - | 30 | 24 |
Kasyanov Mikhail | 25 | 21 | 22 | 38 | 39 | 45 | 38 | 40 | 32 |
Gudkov Gennady | 5 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 41 | 46 | 79 | 40 | 38 |
Navalny Alexey | 9 | 16 | 15 | 20 | 32 | 38 | 71 | 52 | 47 |
Ryzhkov Vladimir | 22 | 14 | 12 | 33 | 28 | 32 | 45 | 58 | 55 |
Udaltsov Sergey | 3 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 26 | 35 | 87 | 60 | 51 |
Ponomarev Il`ya | 3 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 21 | 87 | 77 | 75 |
Yashin Il`ya | - | 6 | 5 | - | 18 | 19 | - | 76 | 76 |
Chirikova Evgeniya | 3 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 88 | 80 | 79 |
Romanova Olga | - | 4 | 3 | - | 13 | 15 | - | 83 | 82 |
How do you perceive the following persons (positively/negatively)? | |||
| Kasparov Garry | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | - | 40 | 46 |
Rather negatively | - | 30 | 28 |
Hard to tell | - | 30 | 26 |
| Yashin Il`ya | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | - | 29 | 29 |
Rather negatively | - | 36 | 38 |
Hard to tell | - | 35 | 33 |
| Romanova Olga | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | - | 27 | 14 |
Rather negatively | - | 39 | 45 |
Hard to tell | - | 34 | 41 |
| Ryzhkov Vladimir | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | 22 | 29 | 33 |
Rather negatively | 38 | 35 | 36 |
Hard to tell | 40 | 36 | 32 |
| Chirikova Evgeniya | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | 22 | 28 | 16 |
Rather negatively | 24 | 39 | 45 |
Hard to tell | 54 | 33 | 39 |
| Udaltsov Sergey | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | 18 | 27 | 17 |
Rather negatively | 26 | 42 | 55 |
Hard to tell | 56 | 31 | 28 |
| Gudkov Gennady | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | 24 | 24 | 23 |
Rather negatively | 29 | 43 | 48 |
Hard to tell | 47 | 32 | 29 |
| Kasyanov Mikhail | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | 17 | 23 | 26 |
Rather negatively | 46 | 41 | 44 |
Hard to tell | 37 | 36 | 30 |
| Nemtsov Boris | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | 20 | 22 | 20 |
Rather negatively | 53 | 50 | 59 |
Hard to tell | 28 | 28 | 22 |
| Navalny Alexey | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | 24 | 22 | 19 |
Rather negatively | 31 | 43 | 51 |
Hard to tell | 46 | 34 | 30 |
| Ponomarev Il`ya | ||
| February 2012 | September 2012 | April 2013 |
Rather positively | 23 | 21 | 19 |
Rather negatively | 28 | 40 | 39 |
Hard to tell | 49 | 39 | 42 |
Do you know anything about the activities of A.Navalny? Who is he? What is he known for? | |
Opposition leader, he takes part in rallies | 14 |
He is fighting against corruption; he expose officials | 2 |
Public and political person | 2 |
Lawyer | 1 |
Businessman | 1 |
Blogger | 1 |
Corruptionist | 1 |
Instigator | 1 |
He defends his political interests | 1 |
He wants to improve his image; he is striving for power | 1 |
He is sponsored by West | 1 |
I only heard his surname; I know nothing about what he does | 26 |
I heard for the first time his name | 47 |
Hard to tell | 3 |
What do you feel about A.Navalny? | |
Indifference | 40 |
Distrust | 15 |
Skepsis | 8 |
Antipathy | 7 |
Liking | 6 |
Respect | 6 |
Condemnation | 6 |
Hope | 5 |
Disappointment | 2 |
Trust | 2 |
Admiration | 1 |
Hatred | 1 |
Love | 0 |
Hard to tell | 14 |
Navalny has recently been actively participating in politics. In your opinion, why does he do that? | |
He is striving for power | 13 |
He represents opposition; he is fighting against the current power | 10 |
He wants to attract attention; publicity move | 7 |
He is fighting for justice, equality and honest elections | 6 |
He is fighting against corruption he wants to expose officials and deputies | 3 |
He wants to be rich | 3 |
He does what the West tells him to do | 3 |
He wants to destabilize the situation in the country | 3 |
Other | 1 |
I hear about his political activity for the first time | 23 |
Hard to tell | 30 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!