Date
Author
Ксения ВЕРЕТЕННИКОВА; Иван ГОРДЕЕВ
Source
Preserved copy
Translated material
Putin's plan
The President will head United Russia's election list and may head the Cabinet of Ministers
The United Russia congress resolved yesterday one of the main problems of modern Russian politics - the problem of Vladimir Putin's employment after the presidential elections in March 2008. The head of state gave his consent to head the list of the party in power in the upcoming State Duma elections in December. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of taking the post of prime minister in the future.Thus, United Russia has a chance to gain a constitutional majority in the next Duma. And Vladimir Putin, who maintains his non-party status, can become not just the prime minister of the government of the parliamentary majority, which ensured his personal rating, but also retain the actual power of the first person in the state. And all this without changing the Constitution. Thus, the current head of state has also “killed” the main intrigue of the presidential campaign - it is not so important who will take the presidential post if the parliament and government are controlled by the current leader of the country.
Two weeks ago, at a meeting with foreign members of the Valdai Club in Sochi, Vladimir Putin remarked: “I’m thinking about how to support them (United Russia - Ed. ) ... I have different options, I’ll choose one of them ", of these options - less tough, more tough, but, of course, there will be some kind of support." It turned out that the president chose not just a “tougher” one, but the most decisive option possible, with the possible exception of directly joining the party.
The president was not expected to attend the convention until the second day. However, when yesterday Vladimir Vladimirovich entered the hall of the Gostiny Dvor, where the event was held, to the applause of the delegates, it became clear that something important was brewing.
“Everyone knows that I not only supported the creation of the party, but was also one of the initiators of its creation,” the head of state recalled, speaking to the delegates. -- December 2 -- elections to the State Duma. The path Russia will take depends on their results.” At the same time, the president noted that he was not sure of the need to personalize the election program of United Russia, which they based on the so-called “Putin plan.” “This is the plan of a large team: the government, the State Duma, the Federation Council. This, without exaggeration, is the plan of Russian society,” the president modestly noted.
The head of state told United Russia that today they have only one task - “to win the upcoming elections and win in a fair fight.” With this, the President ended his speech. The leader of United Russia, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov, took the floor. “Vladimir Vladimirovich, your participation in the work of the congress is of exceptional importance for us,” he addressed the president. “Our main task is to ensure the continuity of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin’s course.” He further said that other parties want to get into the Duma and this is their final destination, “their rails are not laid further,” and the goal of United Russia is to improve people’s lives. “And the parliamentary majority is for us only a means for the great work ahead,” said Mr. Gryzlov. He recalled that all these years United Russia has worked together with the president, providing legislative support for his initiatives.
Then four more people performed, and each of them seemed to be playing a part specially assigned to him. Elena Lakshina, a weaver from the Ivanovo region, asked Putin to stay for a third term: “Let’s come up with something together so that Vladimir Vladimirovich remains the president of Russia after 2008. I'm not sure that everything will continue to improve if you are not president. If we change the laws and create new ones, they will be respected no less than the old ones.”
The idea of weaver Lakshina was supported by Paralympic Games champion Mikhail Terentyev. He reminded the congress delegates of another service of Vladimir Putin to the country: it was the president who secured Sochi the right to host the Winter Games in 2014.
The head of the small and medium-sized business organization OPORA Rossii, Sergei Borisov, submitted another proposal for consideration by the head of state. “I ask you to join United Russia and lead the party together with Boris Gryzlov,” Mr. Borisov said, suggesting that in the future the president could lead a government that, in turn, should be formed along party lines.
The last chord came from the rector of the Samara State Medical University, academician Gennady Kotelnikov: “I propose that the entire congress ask the president to head the list of United Russia in the upcoming parliamentary elections, and then head the government.”
Boris Gryzlov turned to Putin with a request to answer specific questions raised. Mr. Putin thanked the speakers “for their serious job offers.” “I, like the majority of the country’s citizens, am a non-party member and do not want to change this status,” the president immediately said. Once again, he rejected the proposal for a third presidential term: “I consider it incorrect to change the Constitution for a specific person.” But he considered the idea of becoming the head of the government “realistic”, but for this, according to Putin, two conditions must be met. First: United Russia must win the elections. Second: a “decent, capable, efficient, modern person with whom one could work in tandem” must be elected president.
It became clear to delegates that there should be no problem meeting these two conditions. And then came the climax. “I gratefully accept the offer to head the United Russia list,” the president said. The hall exploded with applause.
This turn of events greatly inspired United Russia. If before this they agreed to limit themselves to just a simple majority in the Duma of the fifth convocation, now they are aiming for a constitutional one (more than 300 mandates out of 450). The head of the central executive committee of the party, Andrei Vorobyov, told reporters that if previously United Russia claimed more than half of the parliamentary mandates, now the party is “obliged to reconsider its tasks and form a constitutional majority in the State Duma of the fifth convocation.” Deputy Secretary of the Presidium of the General Council of United Russia Vladimir Pekhtin also agrees with him. He believes that United Russia will receive a constitutional majority in the new Duma, and a party government may be formed in the future.
Today the congress will continue its work and approve the party’s electoral lists. Delegates will determine who will take the second and third positions on the list. The most likely candidates appear to be party leader Boris Gryzlov and the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Sergei Shoigu, although the candidacies of St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko and First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov are also being considered.
Without interruption from production
Vladimir Putin, having agreed to run for United Russia, has the right to retain presidential powers, but cannot use his official position to win elections, said Maya Grishina, a member of the Russian Central Election Commission. “In this situation, when the president is running as a candidate, he has the legal right to retain his powers as president,” Ms. Grishina explained to INTERFAX . “At the same time, the election legislation does not require the president to go on vacation,” she said. “As a person holding a public office, the president is prohibited from using the advantages of his official position for the purpose of being elected or achieving a certain result in elections,” the CEC representative noted. “The law prohibits campaigning while performing duties. In addition, you cannot involve your subordinates during their working hours to conduct an election campaign,” Maya Grishina emphasized.