MOSCOW, March 6 (RIA Novosti) - Most Russians approve of women participating in political activities, and would like them to occupy top state posts on a par with men, according to an opinion poll published by the Levada Center on Wednesday.
Seventy-five percent of respondents said they like the fact that women take part in politics, and 22 percent said they didn’t. These figures remain unchanged from last year.
Sixty-six percent said women should be appointed to top government posts on par with men (70 percent last year), and 28 percent said they shouldn’t (25 percent a year ago).
A total of 43 percent of those polled said a woman should become Russia’s president within the next 10 to 15 years, while 39 percent were against it. In February 2012, 46 percent approved of a woman being the country’s head of state, while 41 percent disapproved of it.
The poll was conducted from February 15 to 18 among 1,600 respondents aged 18 and above in 130 cities, towns and villages in 45 Russian regions. The statistical margin of error did not exceed 3.4 percent.
Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, topped the list of Russia’s 100 most influential women in 2012, compiled by Ekho Moskvy radio, the RIA Novosti and Interfax news agencies and the Ogonyok magazine.
She was followed by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s spokeswoman Natalya Timakova in second and third places, respectively.
