11 December 2003 10:47
College Graduates Voted for Rodina
So who actually voted for the nationalist, anti-oligarch Rodina bloc, propelling the political newcomer to a surprise
victory in the State Duma elections?
Its biggest supporters were retirees and middle-aged, college-educated professionals, according to detailed
socio-demographic data collected in the MT-Soros-RenCap exit poll and released Wednesday.
The bloc, seen as a Kremlin creation designed to split the Communist electorate, got 10.5 percent of the
retirees' vote and 10.7 percent of the vote among people who described themselves as college-educated specialists,
the poll of 33,524 voters in 40 regions indicates.
The college-educated group, usually seen as the core electorate of pro-reformist parties, also backed Yabloko with
9.5 percent and the Union of Right Forces, or SPS, with 10.2 percent.
But Rodina's strong showing apparently reflects a frustration with market reforms among older workers, whose
comfortable lifestyles -- guaranteed by their education and training under the Soviet regime -- evaporated during the
past decade.
"The majority of people who had high education and status in the Soviet Union have been cast overboard by these
reforms," said Andrei Milyokhin, director of the ROMIR Monitoring agency, which conducted the poll.
"They don't have the capability to adapt, but they do have a desire to return to the past," he
said.
Rodina, whose pre-election campaign called for a return of the wealth to the people, promises just that. The bloc got
21.7 percent of the votes cast by people aged 45 and older -- well above its national average of 9.5 percent in the exit
poll and 9 percent in official preliminary results. This compares to just 4.2 percent of the votes by those aged 18 to
24.
The pro-Kremlin United Russia party, which swept the elections with 37.4 percent of the vote, received relatively
even backing among people of all ages, social status and education. But it seems to have won the strongest support in
the military -- which gave the party 40.3 percent of its vote -- and among students, with 40.3 percent.
Surprisingly, 7.5 percent of military servicemen said they voted against all candidates, an act of protest that was
stronger than the national average of 6.7 percent. The Central Elections Committee put the national "against
all" vote at 4.7 percent.
Commanders have welcomed increased military spending under President Vladimir Putin and pressure is believed to be
strong on conscripts to vote for United Russia, but many officers seem to be frustrated by abysmal living conditions and
a drop in the military's prestige.
"They have been abandoned, they have been betrayed and they are not needed by anybody. The status of a military
officer is the lowest there is," Milyokhin said.
A total of 17.9 percent of the military also voted for the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, the exit poll
indicates. The party scored more only among the unemployed, getting 18.4 percent of their vote.
LDPR finished a strong third in the elections, with 11.5 percent, according to official results. It fell just behind
the Communists' 12.7 percent.
The Communist Party got its strongest support from retirees, with 23.8 percent of their vote. It received 40.2
percent of all votes cast by people aged 45 and older.
Yabloko's 9.5 percent of votes cast by college-educated professionals was its highest showing in any single
category, followed by 7.3 percent of the vote by entrepreneurs and 7.3 percent among people who described themselves as
administrators.
Detailed socio-demographic data from the MT-Soros-RenCap exit poll can be found at
www.elections.themoscowtimes.com.
.TX-..**********************************************
[CEIW] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
