Leading Democrats

From RFE/RL Newsline, 15 November 2004:

PUTIN, ZHIRINOVSKII NAMED RUSSIA'S LEADING DEMOCRATS. According to a new poll by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), President Vladimir Putin and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia leader Vladimir Zhirinovskii are considered the country's leading democrats by more Russians than any other public figure, "Izvestiya" reported on 13 November. The poll of 1,500 respondents in 44 regions found that Putin and Zhirinovskii were named by 11 percent of respondents, while just 5 percent named Yabloko leader Grigorii Yavlinskii. Twelve percent named no one. Asked to characterize Russian democrats, 32 percent of responded that they are people who stand up for democratic rights and principles, while 10 percent said they are "thieves, deceivers, bureaucrats, and idlers." Four percent agreed that democrats are "just, honorable, and responsible politicians." Although more respondents named Unified Russia as the most democratically oriented political party in Russia, 39 percent said the party's goals do not correspond to their own, up from 25 percent in September 2003. RC