Translated material
The New Left is gaining popularity
According to the survey results, in August 20% of respondents considered the possibility of voting for this alliance, in September - 30%, and now 39% of respondents allow themselves such an opportunity. Accordingly, the proportion of respondents who said that they are not ready to vote for a new party is decreasing. In August and September these were the majority - 60 and 51%, now they are 41%. That is, the number of potential supporters and opponents of this party is divided almost equally, experts from VTsIOM note. Moreover, among respondents 60 years of age and older, the number of possible supporters is greater than opponents - 49 versus 32%.
Moreover, the unification of parties increases their total electoral potential. Approximately one-fifth (17%) of respondents who were previously not supporters of either the Russian Party of Life, the Russian Party of Pensioners, or Rodina are now ready to call themselves supporters of the new party. About 7% of those who were previously voters of one of the three named parties are now ready to become supporters of the alliance, and 5%, on the contrary, are now rather not ready to do this. Half of the respondents note that they were not supporters of any of the parties that were part of the Union of Trust, and are not supporters of the new united party.
In general, over the past month, Russians' awareness of the decision of the three parties to unite has increased significantly. If in mid-September only 4% of respondents were aware of this decision, today 10% of respondents are well informed about it and another 45% have “heard something” about it. Then 58% of respondents knew nothing about plans to create a new party, now less than half of those surveyed (41%). To one degree or another, 63-65% of respondents over 45 years old and only 37% of young people 18-24 years old are aware of this.
According to the survey results, the decision of the three parties to unite is perceived rather as the right step - 21% of respondents approve of this decision, 7% do not approve. Nevertheless, the majority of those who note that the creation of a new party is completely uninteresting to them - 64%.
The number of respondents predicting the political success of the new party has increased significantly. 22% of respondents believe that the new party has a chance to enter the State Duma and become one of the leading parties in the country (12% thought so in August). Another 28% of respondents believe that the new party is unlikely to enter the State Duma, but it can achieve success in regional elections. 18% of respondents believe that this party will not achieve success in either federal or regional elections (in August, 24% of respondents gave a negative forecast).
Russians have ambivalent assessments of the new party's relationship with the authorities and the degree of its opposition. Most of those who believe that the new party will support the president, but at the same time be in opposition to United Russia and the government of the country - 30%. Slightly less than a quarter - 23% - do not believe in any opposition to this party, and 7%, on the contrary, believe that the new party will be in strong opposition to both the president and the government. Doubts about the opposition of the association are increasing - in two months the number of those respondents who consider this party to be pro-government has increased from 15 to 23%. Among supporters of the new party, 17% expect it to be strongly oppositional; another 48% believe that the party will only support the president, and only 13% of them believe that it will be pro-government.
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VTsIOM polls were conducted on August 5-6, September 9-10 and October 14-15, 2006. Each study involved 1,600 people in 153 settlements in 46 regions, territories and republics of Russia. The statistical error does not exceed 3.4%.