Russians expect protests, political upheavals but no coup in 2012

As Russia enters 2012, the year of presidential elections, the majority of Russians expect protests and political unrest but no coup in the country, the Levada pollster website said. Last month, Russia saw a series of protests against alleged fraud in the December 4 parliamentary elections, which brought victory to the ruling United Russia party led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a presidential candidate in the elections due in March. Hence, 50 percent of respondents said more protests were likely to take place after the elections against 25% who said they might not be any further protests. Forty-nine percent of respondents said the political situation was likely to deteriorate after the elections and 26% said the situation might not get worse. However, 45 percent said the protests were unlikely to reach the point of a coup against 17% who said they might. According to the Levada center, only 36% of respondents polled between December 16 and 20 said they would vote for Putin if the elections were held in the next few days, which is a significant drop in the politician’s ratings that hit 79% in 2007. The opinion poll was conducted on December 16-20 among 1,600 people from the age of 18, both rural and urban residents of 130 towns and villages in 45 regions of Russia.