Novye Izvestia January 30, 2006 HE'S BLAMED FOR EVERYTHING Pollsters investigate reasons for liking or disliking Boris Yeltsin One particular interpretation of the past has now prevailed Author: Mariam Magomedova, Yevgeniya Zubchenko [Recent polls show many respondents believing that the Yeltsin era did Russia more harm than good, and that former president Boris Yeltsin ought to be prosecuted. Pollsters say citizens are disillusioned with Yeltsin's reforms, and the Putin administration is promoting negative views of the Yeltsin era.]
According to the Yuri Levada Analytical Center (Levada Center) polling agency, 70% of respondents believe that the Yeltsin era did Russia more harm than good in historical terms. Half of respondents say that former president Boris Yeltsin, who turns 75 this week, ought to be prosecuted. The Levada Center maintains that such opinions are not entirely due to citizens being disillusioned with Yeltsin's reforms; another reason is that the present administration is promoting negative views of the Yeltsin era.
Only 13% of respondents say that the Yeltsin era did Russia more good than harm. The poll, with 1,600 respondents, was done on December 16-19, 2005.
Back in July 2004, the Levada Center did a poll in which citizens were asked whether Russia had moved in the right or wrong direction after 1991. Forty-nine percent of respondents said it moved in the wrong direction, 27% said it moved in the right direction, and the rest were unsure. Of those who said Russia moved in the wrong direction, 29% blamed that fact on the errors and incompetence of Yeltsin and his team.
A poll done by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) in December 2005 asked people which era they'd prefer to live in, if they had a choice. Only 1% of respondents said they wanted to go back to the Yeltsin era. Even the Stalin era scored higher, named by 6% of respondents.
"After Vladimir Putin came to power, attitudes to the Yeltsin era deteriorated noticeably," says Leonid Sedov, an analyst at the Levada Center. In his view, such negative opinions of Yeltsin's period in power are partially due to the present administration's active efforts to discredit that era: "In Russia, every new administration tries to discredit the previous administration in some way. In this case, we're seeing the same thing happen. One particular interpretation of the past has now prevailed, and it's supported by the authorities. And the Yeltsin era had few defenders. Those who took part in Yeltsin's reforms aren't very noticeable now, for some reason. They implemented reforms without making too much effort to explain the nature of those reforms to the public, or how the people could expect to benefit. And now they're behaving timidly as well."
Meanwhile, attitudes to Yeltsin as a person are somewhat more mixed. The Levada Center reoports over half of respondents (55%) saying they dislike Yeltsin, a third (33%) saying they are neutral, and only 9% saying they like him. It's worth noting that this generally negative view of Yeltsin has remained stable for the past few years, according to pollsters.
Leonid Sedov: "The negative aspects of that era are obscuring people's view. I've had occasion to discuss this with many people from different societal groups. Even the intelligentsia dislikes Yeltsin. People don't appreciate the achievements of Yeltsin's reforms."
It's interesting to note that half of respondents (49%) say that Yeltsin should be prosecuted for the unlawful actions and abuses that he permitted to happen during his years in power. A third of respondents (31%) in the Levada Center's poll are more merciful to Yeltsin, who will turn 75 on February 1: they say his security and immunity from prosecution should be maintained. And 21% of respondents say they are unsure.
Translated by Elena Leonova
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