The Russian people have again named their President Vladimir Putin "politician of the year," Interfax News Agency reported Thursday.

According to a public opinion poll carried out by the Public Opinion fund on December 10, 26 percent of the 1,500 respondents from 44 Russian regions chose Putin for the title, a traditional end-of-year pick.

The leader of the Liberal-Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky came second following Putin with people's approving rate of 5 percent and was followed by Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu with the rate of 2 percent.

No other Russian politicians won over 1 percent support from the respondents in the poll.

However, the results of the poll show that 54 percent of the respondents were undecided about who they would name politician of the year.

Putin has kept the "politician of the year" since 1999, when he was named prime minister of Russia by his predecessor Boris Yeltsin.

On March 26, 2000, Putin was elected Russian president. During his four-year tenure, Putin has achieved notable progress in enhancing the central power, balancing relations between legislative body and law enforcement agencies and maintaining a stable economic growth.

Last year, Putin outlined for the government three strategic goals, including doubling the gross domestic product in 10 years, greatly reducing poverty and modernizing the armed forces, to ensure national development.

Putin was reelected to his second and final term in the March presidential poll this year. Following the bloody Beslan school hostage crisis and facing escalating terrorist attacks, Putin proposed political and electoral reforms that he claimed would consolidate the national unity in the face of terrorism and improve the bureaucratic efficiency.

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2004)