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The economic crisis has not reduced the level of internal political stability in the country and has not given rise to an increase in the activities of the opposition, think Russian political scientists.

"The construction of the ruling tandem remains quite stable and is functioning according to the rules which were formulated in 2008 on the principles of the transfer of power and guaranteeing the stability of the political system," said the director-general of the Agency of Political and Economic Communications, Dmitriy Orlov, on Friday (4 September) at a news conference at Interfax's main office.

In the political scientist's opinion, the effective work of the president and prime minister's tandem is one of the reasons for the population's trust in the authorities.

"The overall direction of the country's development is still viewed positively by the population, and the high approval ratings for the representatives of the tandem continue to remain the main framework of the 'system of trust' that has developed," said Orlov.

As regards the influence of opposition political forces on the back of the economic crisis, in the political scientist's opinion, the opposition has not managed to take advantage of the crisis factor.

"The opposition has used this crisis, the deterioration of the socio-economic situation and the recent fall in the population's standard of living, to a minimal extent," said Orlov.

Furthermore, one of the reasons why the opposition's chances have not increased is their low level of political activity, thinks the expert.

"If their actions, especially those of the Communist Party, had been more persistent, then their popular support would be higher," said Orlov.

Mikhail Vinogradov, president of the St Petersburg Politics foundation who also took part in the news conference, shares the view that the opposition has been unable to increase the population's level of trust due to the crisis.

"The opposition has no large-scale history of success in solving crisis problems," said Vinogradov.

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