Translated material
Going forward
An all-Russian movement in support of modernization is being created
Deputies of the Duma faction “A Just Russia” Gennady Gudkov, Anatoly Aksakov and economist Nikita Krichevsky announced yesterday their intention to create an all-Russian movement in support of the modernization of the country. The name has already been invented - “Russia, forward!” - in honor of the article of the same name by the head of state Dmitry Medvedev , in which in 2009 he proclaimed a course towards modernizing the country. According to the initiators of the movement, it will include representatives of all political parties, science, culture, law enforcement agencies, etc. “Before your eyes, a new elite of the country is being formed,” Nikita Krichevsky proudly announced to journalists yesterday.As Gennady Gudkov, deputy head of the “A Just Russia” faction in the State Duma, said, an organizing committee of the movement is already being created, and a founding conference will be held at the end of June. At the same time, a memorandum will be signed and the main directions of work will be outlined.
Mr. Gudkov explained why a new movement is needed. According to him, “modernization is stalling, innovation is failing,” and all fresh ideas run into a “huge bureaucratic swamp,” and it turns out that “we are marking time, and in some areas we are sliding backwards.” At the same time, according to the deputy, only 30% of Russians support parties and go to elections, and the remaining 70% are excluded from politics. The new movement, as its founders believe, will be able to unite people capable of modernizing the country and guiding Russia along the path of democratization. It will support innovative business, regardless of its form, and fight bureaucracy and corruption.
“The movement should become massive, we have every reason for this, since there will be representatives of almost all political parties,” says deputy Gudkov. He noted that consultations have already been held with all parliamentary parties. As for the non-systemic opposition, it has not yet been invited to the movement. “There are no representatives of the non-systemic opposition on our organizing committee yet. But we do not rule out that in the future we will hold consultations with them,” explained Gennady Gudkov.
However, first, in his opinion, it is necessary to create a platform and structure of the organization. The path to the movement “Forward Russia!” will be closed only to those who call for the violent overthrow of the system or incite ethnic hatred.
“Our task is to lend a shoulder to Mr. Medvedev, who, as his article shows (“Russia, forward!” - Ed. ), is sincerely interested in change,” said Nikita Krichevsky. However, as the creators of the movement note, they did not consult with the president, and they do not yet know anything about how much he is ready to rely on them. At the same time, the Social Revolutionaries insist that they are not associated with any personalities. They claim that they do not support Dmitry Medvedev personally, but his ideas.
The Social Revolutionaries noted that in certain aspects they criticize the government of Vladimir Putin, but again they have nothing against the personality of the prime minister. “Right now there are more budget obligations than the money available in the federal budget,” Mr. Krichevsky said. “It’s not for nothing that Putin ordered an urgent audit of budget expenditures.”