| JRL HOME | SUPPORT | SUBSCRIBE | RESEARCH & ANALYTICAL SUPPLEMENT | |
Old Saint Basil's Cathedral in MoscowJohnson's Russia List title and scenes of Saint Petersburg
Excerpts from the JRL E-Mail Community :: Founded and Edited by David Johnson

#16 - JRL 8262 - JRL Home
KPRF AND ITS LEADER ZYUGANOV IN THE MIRROR OF PUBLIC OPINION

MOSCOW, June 21 (RIA Novosti's Nikolai Zherebtsov /. Nearly a quarter of all Russians (24%) have a positive view of the Communist Party's leader Gennady Zyuganov, a third (32%) of Russians think negatively of him, and 39% characterised their attitude to him as indifferent. One percent of Russians admitted that they did not know who he was.

This data was made public by the Public Opinion independent sociological foundation. It is based on the results of the poll conducted among 1,500 Russians from 100 towns and settlements in 44 regions, territories and republics of Russia, as well as an additional poll among 600 Muscovites 100 of whom are included in the all-Russian sample. The poll took place on June 12 and 13.

At the same time, 4% of the respondents said that their attitude to the KPRF leader had become better of late, 18% admitted that it had become even worse, and the majority (73%) said that nothing had changed for them.

Some 16% of the respondents admitted that a positive view of Zyuganov prevailed among their relatives, friends and acquaintances, 33% said that they were indifferent to the Communist leader, and 27% said that they thought of him in a negative way.

At the same, 42% of the respondents believe that there are politicians with communist views who could lead the KPRF better than Zyuganov and help to enhance the party's prestige; 16% think that there are no such people.

The poll has also shown that 35% of Russians sympathise with the KPRF, 42% are indifferent to it, and 18% think negatively of the party.

During the poll it has also transpired that 16% of the respondents believe that the number of people sympathising with communist ideas has been increasing in Russia of late, 43% are of the opposite opinion, and 24% are convinced that their number is not changing.

It is interesting that 52% of the respondents are sure that they will not vote for communists in the next elections to the State Duma, 25% think that they may vote for the KPRF, and 8% admit that they always vote for the Communist Party in the parliamentary elections.