Protesters demanding fair elections in Russia face the indifference or annoyance of the population, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (WCIOM) said, Kommersant reports.
38% of people questioned say that the popularity of opposition protests is dropping. 39% believe that protests for fair elections will continue, although less intensively. 9% expect them to be more popular.
Sociologists say that only 7% want to protest for reconsideration of polls of March 4 (10% at parliamentary polls on December 4). 31% consider the demands fair, but do not want to be involved (38%). 49% are confident that there are no grounds for protests (28%).
WCIOM Director General Valery Fedorov explained that protest potential has been exhausted. The other reason is that, unlike United Russia, Vladimir Putin is unsurprisingly the winner.
32% of people questioned are indifferent to protests, 19% are annoyed, 18% fear them. 10% said they were tired of protests, 10% felt animated, 9% feel compassion, 3% feel more confidence, 8% failed to answer.
28% of Vladimir Putin’s supporters expressed irritation over the protests, 27% of Sergey Mironov’s expressed fears for the future.
The WCIOM head noted that protests were mostly held in large cities, while the rural population is more concerned about personal welfare. He also noted that there was an outburst of protests in the 1990s.
Lev Gudkov, a sociologist and Director of Levada-Center, told Vestnik Kavkaza about the wave-like nature of the protests and predicted only 3% of the population protesting. 10% were ready to protest against electoral violations, 30% were reluctant, about half of the population was unwilling to protest.
