President "popular" or "parliamentary"

On the Ezhednevny Zhurnal website, publicist Leonid Radzikhovsky discusses the consequences of the transition to a parliamentary republic.

In his opinion, President Putin enjoys authority precisely because he is elected by all the people. If direct elections are canceled, then, firstly, the authority of the president elected by the Duma will be extremely low, no higher than 5-6% (since the Duma does not enjoy authority), and secondly, if this happens, Russia will lose the last legitimate in the eyes of society - presidential.

"The transition to a parliamentary republic , - writes L. Radzikhovsky, - threatens to repeat 1917 and 1990-1991 - that is, those situations when Russia had a parliamentary republic or a republic without a completely legitimate, popularly elected president. "

The All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) presented data on how citizens of the Russian Federation assess the work of the State Duma a year after its formation. All-Russian survey was conducted on February 19-20, 2005.

The results of monthly polls showed that if a year ago about half of Russians disapproved of the work of the State Duma, now almost two-thirds do.

The share of those who approved fluctuated slightly, ranging from 19% (April 2004) to 26% (August 2004), and by the beginning of March it was 21% of the respondents. On the contrary, the share of those dissatisfied with the work of the State Duma was constantly growing - from 49% in April 2004 to 49%. up to 64% at the beginning of March 2005. The share of those who found it difficult to answer during this period decreased from 32 to 15%.

Analyzing the distribution of leading positions in the State Duma, 56% of those polled consider it wrong that practically all of them are occupied by United Russia representatives. These respondents are of the opinion that leadership positions should be distributed proportionally among all parties represented in the State Duma. And only about a quarter of respondents (26%) consider the current distribution of posts to be correct.

March 17, 2005 presidential aide Igor Shuvalov said that the information that Russia will become a parliamentary republic - it's just a rumor. He said that the Constitution would not be changed, Russia would remain a presidential republic. And the Prime Minister will not receive any additional powers. He said this in an interview with foreign journalists.

Sources

• Radzikhovsky L. And this Duma will elect the President... // Daily log. 2005. February 10.
• 64% of Russians are dissatisfied with the work of the State Duma // Independent newspaper. 2005. March 14.