After a video alleging vast corruption by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was released by Kremlin opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, a poll conducted by the Russian polling group Levada found that 45% of the Russian population thinks that Medvedev should resign.
The Prime Minister’s popularity has steadily fallen over the last year as the economy has continued to be sluggish in the face of Western sanctions and a severe drop in oil prices. Russia also continues to be ranked among the lowest countries in the world in ease of doing business due to rampant corruption that infects ever facet of Russian life.
Thousands of people took to the streets on March 26th of this year to protest the Medvedev corruption allegations and hundreds were arrested. The demonstrations seemed to have surprised the Kremlin.
“It appears that the attacks on Medvedev have achieved their goal,” political scientist Konstantin Kalachev told RBC, reports The Moscow Times.
“His work is routine-like and does not elicit raging passion,” political scientist Abbas Gallyamov told RBC. “There is less money to go around in the economy, people are told ‘No’ more often. The fact that Medvedev’s ratings have been declining for some time, shows that this is a systemic problem, and not only the result of Navalny’s attacks,” again reports The Moscow Times.
