A majority of Russians would support the resignation of the government over the worsening economic situation in the country, according to recent polling.
The approval ratings of government figures including President Vladimir Putin have slipped since the authorities announced an increase in the pension age last year. A higher value-added tax (VAT) rate announced alongside the new retirement ages has contributed to growing consumer prices.
Fifty-three percent of respondents to a poll published on Monday by the independent Levada Center said they would back the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s cabinet. Those figures are up from November 2016, when just one-third of respondents voiced support for the idea.
Asked to name their key grievances, 57 percent of Levada’s respondents mentioned the government’s inability to tackle rising prices and falling incomes. Forty-six percent blamed the government for not providing work, and 43 percent said it “doesn’t care about social welfare.”
“There’s a steady deterioration in public sentiment,” Levada sociologist Marina Krasilnikova told the Vedomosti business daily. “In advocating for the resignation of the government, people are saying that everything is bad and that social policy issues in the country are not being resolved.”
Levada conducted the survey among 1,600 respondents in 52 Russian regions between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19.
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