Putin approval plummets
A plan to raise the retirement age in Russia, which was announced on the opening day of the World Cup, has pushed President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings to a four-year low.
The policy provoked protests and wiped out expected gains from the World Cup feelgood factor when it was announced on June 14, just before Russia’s opening match against Saudi Arabia, prompting claims that the government was trying to bury bad news.
Under the plans announced by Dmitry Medvedev, the prime minister, the state pension age will rise from 60 to 65 for men and
55 to 63 for women over the next
10 to 16 years.
Just under 60 per cent of Russian men die before the age of
65, according to statistics. Russian women can expect to live to 73.
The move is particularly controversial because Putin previously pledged never to raise the pension age.
The Kremlin said increased life expectancy and economic uncertainty meant that the rise was unavoidable.
Putin’s ratings slipped from 77 per cent to 63 per cent after the announcement, according to VTsIOM, the state-run pollster. The figures are the lowest since shortly before Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, when Putin’s popularity rocketed.
Russians opposed to the pension reforms held demonstrations in several cities yesterday but numbers were said to be modest.
Tough laws on public protests in World Cup host cities meant that there were no rallies in Moscow or St Petersburg. One activist risked arrest by stripping naked and standing on Red Square with a sign that read: ‘‘They robbed me even of my pants.’’
Russia’s Communist Party, the second largest party in parliament, called for further nationwide rallies on July 28 to force the government to reverse its decision.
Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin critic, described the pension plans as ‘‘a genuine crime’’.
Further declines in Putin’s approval ratings could have swift consequences, analysts warned. Abbas Gallyamov, a former Kremlin speech writer turned political analyst, said that the president’s popularity underpinned the entire government. ‘‘If this foundation vanishes, the whole structure will collapse like a house of cards,’’ he told BBC Russia.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that Putin did not keep track of his ratings and was committed to doing his best for the Russian people. He emphasised, however, that the president had played no role in drawing up the plans.
There are about 36 million pensioners in Russia, according to government statistics. The average pension is 14,000 rubles (NZ$330) a month, and many pensioners have to work part-time or depend on money from family members to survive.
Anton Siluanov, the finance minister, was accused of being out of touch last week when he suggested that people should put aside money for their old age and not rely entirely on state pensions. About 22 million Russians – roughly 15 per cent of the population – are officially living in poverty, with monthly incomes of less than 10,300 rubles.