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Russians don’t know what a “national leader” is, but they agree that Putin should become one
Russians do not understand what a “national leader” is, which part of the political establishment wants to make outgoing President Vladimir Putin. But in principle, the majority agrees that Putin should become a national leader. Such conclusions can be drawn from the results of the first sociological surveys on the attitude of Russians to the idea of a “national leader.” Their results were announced yesterday.According to the results of a survey conducted by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, it turned out that every second respondent (52% of respondents) still finds it difficult to determine what exactly the concept of “national leader” means. Of those who do not find it difficult, 6% answered that this is a person who inspires trust among the people, the same number spoke about a leader who enjoys respect and authority, 5% believe that this is someone who is able to unite the people. According to 24% of Russians, a national leader must be honest, unselfish, and principled; according to 13%, smart and wise. 13% of survey participants want to see him strong and persistent, 8% - fair, 7% - a professional politician, 5% - stubborn and decisive, 5% - powerful and strong-willed, 5% - responsible, 4% - heartbroken for the people.
At the same time, 60% of Russians generally support the idea of a national leader. There are three times fewer opponents of this idea - 19%. According to the survey, the idea of a national leader is supported by less than half of the population in the capitals - Moscow and St. Petersburg (48%), while in other cities and villages from 59 to 66%. At the same time, voters of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party were rather against Vladimir Putin maintaining his influence after the presidential elections, while supporters of A Just Russia (58%) and United Russia (68%) were in favor.
Meanwhile, Levada Center found out that more than half of Russians would not change their attitude towards Vladimir Putin if he announced his intention to participate in the presidential elections in 2008, in violation of the current Constitution. However, 61% of respondents said they had not heard anything about plans to proclaim Mr. Putin as a national leader. Only 39% of respondents know about this. According to the Levada Center, 44% of Russians do not object to declaring Putin a national leader, of which 17% fully approve of this idea, 15% approve, but only if Putin is recognized as a national leader as a result of a referendum . And another 12% of survey participants would be happy to see Putin as a national leader only if the corresponding changes to the Constitution are adopted and his powers are clearly defined. 30% of respondents do not approve of such plans at all.
The idea of a national leader split the expert community. The National Strategy Council, for example, is going to propose some ideas next week on how Vladimir Putin's right to influence domestic politics in the country after the presidential elections could be legislated. And the general director of the Center for Political Conjuncture, Mikhail Vinogradov, considers the legislative implementation of the concept of “national leader” meaningless. “I think there is no need for this,” Mr. Vinogradov told a Vremya Novostei correspondent. - Today, the concept of a national leader has become partly a euphemism - for some, the continuation of Vladimir Putin’s political career, and for others, even his third term. I think that until Putin decides where he sees his place in the political life of Russia, it will be too early to talk about legitimizing the institution of a national leader. There are obvious forms, for example, heading the United Russia party, but there are no legal or political grounds for introducing any additional status yet. I think, to a certain extent, the concept of a national leader weakens the next president, but everything will depend on how Putin sees his political future.”
“The national leader differs from the president in that there are no guidelines behind him. He is not elected by anyone and is not accountable to anyone. This is, in general, an education characteristic of insufficiently Europeanized countries,” Dmitry Oreshkin, a leading researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Vremya Novostey. - For example, Ataturk in Turkey, Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan, Deng Xiaoping in China. It is very difficult for me to imagine a national leader in a country like Canada, Britain, Germany. United leader of the German tribes Angela Merkel? They have no need for a national leader. An accountable chancellor, president, prime minister, etc., elected for a certain period of time, is quite satisfactory. Just a manager. A national leader is God's anointed, a king, a king, a khan, a leader. This is all characteristic of a society that has not moved far from the tribal organization of life. And if there is a leader, then a great campaign is needed. Because if we live a peaceful life, then why do we need a leader?”
This is the danger of such a concept as a national leader, Mr. Oreshkin believes. “This means that we will have to sacrifice something in the name of something, to protect this national leader from some kind of machinations. This concept is designed to lock power into one specific person, whose name is Putin.”