MOSCOW, December 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s protest movement is decreasing, and its future depends on actions from the power, Russian leading political scientists told a news conference at Itar-Tass, which was devoted to research of the Public Opinion Fund /FOM/.
FOM’s President Alexander Oslon said “the trend of the protest movement emerged in early 2011 and was connected with many emerging phenomena influencing the social state of the society.”
“One of the factors being big spike in prices in regions, where millions live, but not in places along the Garden Ring,” he explained. “Other reasons being the late economic crisis and failed expectations of certain layers of the society. All other growth factors of the protest moods are based on that.”
“The major outburst of emotions happened in December of 2011, and it lasted up to May of 2012,” Oslon said adding “the apogee became as Prokhorov’s party appeared.”
From the analysis of the protest period and from the FOM’s polls, Oslon makes the conclusion “the Russian society now is as follows: its 15 percent are those promoting life projects and interested in their implementation. The remaining and much bigger part of the society are people living a life cycle.” The appearance of the first group at the front line is a major trend of the society in the going year, he said. Oslon stressed that most people “do not have special ambitions, would not want any changes and are satisfied with what they have.”
Sergei Markov, a member of the Public Chamber, said “most Russians are leaving the regime of social survival to enter the regime of social life.”
“The Russian society has overcome the crisis and enters a new stage of its development, where the public agenda should expand,” he said. “The power has fulfilled its social agreement, by having raised the level of life, and now another objective is pending via a dialogue with the society.”
“The power should take as a basis the new public agenda and voice a new public agreement. As yet the agenda is not clear, and we are expecting a big discussion on public remedies,” he forecasted.
The power’s objective is to integrate these two layers of the society in the country and to demonstrate skilful unification on the basis of the common. For example, on the basis of fighting the corruption, attitude to illegal migration, and so forth. Markov forecasts the social protest movement will be growing in the coming year, while the political one will remain at the present level.
“The power has received a carte blanche and it has an option to reach a new social agreement,” he said in conclusion. “If the actions of the power are clear to the society, everything will remain as it is, if not, protests will be growing.”