Russians Turn Backs on Parties
// Russia's bright election-free future
The Voice of the People
The number of Russians who favor a one-party system or a system with few parties is growing, as is the number of those who consider elections unnecessary. Those are the results of public opinion polls taken published by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion and the Public Opinion Foundation. The All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion published its poll on Russians' attitude toward elections on Friday. More than half the respondents (54 percent) said that it would be best now for Russia to have a single party or two or three parties. There are now 35 parties in Russia. Another 20 percent of respondent thought that “no party is needed; a leader is needed.”
The number of respondents favoring a multiparty system has not increased, although the authorities claim that the latest reforms (raising the minimum party membership, introduction of a mixed election system in regional parliaments, State Duma elections exclusively by party list and giving the winning party in regional elections the right to make a nomination for governor) were intended to strengthen the party system. A mere 6 percent of respondents expressed the desire to belong to a political party and only 8 percent would be willing to provide material support for one. Although 35 percent of those polled said they would vote by party, 14 percent did not see any party in Russia worthy of their support and 27 percent did not “see the sense in the activities of parties.” Forty-one percent of Russians were opposed to an increase in party activities.
The Public Opinion Foundation found that the number of Russians who consider elections necessary has fallen by 12 percent in the last year and a half. Most of that loss was made up for in the “undecided” category. It is noteworthy that both federal and regional elections were held during the period in which that change took place. When asked why elections are necessary, 29 percent of respondents mentioned that they are a sign of democracy; 10 percent mentioned constitutional rights; 7 percent said elections could improve the personnel exercising authority and only 4 percent thought that their lives could be improved through voting.
The pollsters noted that elections have the greatest support among the young. Of those ages 18 to 35, 68 percent consider elections necessary. That theoretical support did not translate into action, however; 31 percent in that age range said they rarely vote and 21 said that they never vote. In polls taken two and three years ago, 47 and 53 percent of respondents said that they always vote. That figure has now fallen to 39 percent. Russian indicated that they saw municipal elections as more beneficial in their lives than presidential elections.
Kommersant asked some representatives of the opposition about these results. Boris Nadezhdin, secretary of the federal political council of the Union of Rights Forces, said that Russia is moving toward “the North Korean model” and saw this as more motivation for the democratic parties to unite. Sergey Ivanenko, deputy chairman of Yabloko, suggested that the grave errors committed in the course of democratic and economic reforms are to blame to these tendencies, as well as the high price of oil, because the public views the consequent stability in the country as an accomplishment of the current authorities. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian federation Oleg Kulikov blamed voting fraud for the disillusionment of the public, which no longer believes that elections influence public affairs. He was no completely pessimistic, however. “There will always be a left party and a right and a center party,” he said.
Vyacheslav Volodin, secretary of the presidium of the general council of the United Russia Party saw the support for a system with a limited number of parties as confirmation of what his party has been urging for three years: large, responsible parties and confirmation of what his party has been pushing for legislatively. He said the lack of support for elections was a symptom of tiredness, because every Russian votes n average twice a year. Beginning in 2006, there will be two days per year for voting, one in Marc and the other in October, which the party hopes will reduce that fatigue.
Dmitry Khamyshev, Viktor Khamraev
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 16, 2006
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