By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is considered “more trustworthy” than President Dmitry Medvedev, even though the trust levels of both leaders dropped by almost 10 percent over the past six months, a survey has found.
A total of 61 percent Russians trust their prime minister, a drop of eight percent from January this year and 10 percent from the third quarter of 2009, a survey conducted by Russia’s Public Opinion Fund, published in the Gazeta, said Friday.
Some 14 percent said they do not trust Putin, which is four percent more than in January. In 2003-2005, when Putin was the Russian president, only 47 percent said they trusted him.
Meanwhile, 53 percent Russians said they trusted Medvedev. In January, the trust figures stood at 62 percent and in May at 60 percent.
The current figure is the lowest since Medvedev took office in 2008. The number of those who say they do not trust Medvedev has risen by three percent over the past half year.
The research proves a theory that public confidence in the leadership of a country tends to drop after a crisis is resolved, rather when it is at its peak, Leonty Byzov, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology at the Academy of Sciences, was quoted as saying.
People begin blaming the authorities when the pace of economic recovery turns out to be slower than expected.
“It is linked with systematic corruption. People see no actions by Putin and Medvedev aimed at fighting it. As a result, citizens are no longer satisfied with the minimum social guarantees provided by the authorities,” he said.