Translated material
Demonstration performance
"Citizens have become more concerned about international problems"
Vladimir PEKHTIN, Vice Speaker of the State Duma, Deputy Head of the United Russia faction:
— During the direct line, I noticed that in addition to traditional issues in the field of social policy, more and more citizens are concerned about international problems: the situation around the DPRK nuclear problem, relations with the European Union, the process of building a union state, relations between Russia and Georgia. All this indicates serious changes in the country and in the lives of its citizens. Feeling a real increase in their own well-being, people began to pay more attention to the future of Russia and its role in the international political arena.
“If Zyuganov had a similar opportunity, his rating would have increased significantly”
Ivan MELNIKOV, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, State Duma deputy:
- In my opinion, the idea of a straight line is good. Another thing is that each time it becomes more and more predictable and attracts less attention. Too much has already been said many times, the results are too invisible. And although a huge number of questions were received, I intuitively feel that the interest of the audience was less than before. In terms of the genre for the president, I think this is certainly a completely different format of communication than the annual message to the Federal Assembly or any briefing. Indeed, despite the fact that most questions are obviously prepared in advance, you need to understand one nuance. The TV viewer does not know this, the TV viewer looks at communication with completely different eyes - “how the president speaks to us, to the people.” This is not an outside view of what the president is saying to someone, but it is as if he is speaking directly to you. And therefore the moment of playing to the public is essential here. There is another language of communication here. Different mood. The argumentation is structured in such a way as to make it clear: it comes from the heart and mind of a person just like everyone else. This is a very strong genre in terms of impact on citizens. Of course, a lot depends on the figure who communicates with the people. But I, for example, am sure that if Gennady Andreevich Zyuganov, for example, had a similar opportunity, his rating would have increased significantly in two hours.
"We need to include even more regions"
Sergei BABURIN, Vice Speaker of the State Duma, head of the Rodina (People's Will) faction - SEPR:
— Of course, the direct line is different from the president’s message to the Federal Assembly. Communication with the people does not imply setting strategic goals for the development of the country and society. It is rather a desire to feel the pulse of the country, to understand how the people live. Naturally, most of the questions, especially inclusions from the field, are staged. Local authorities naturally strive to somehow reflect the issues they need. But despite this, the very cross-section of the issues being studied allows, if you approach the analysis of this entire volume with a good apparatus of assistants and advisers, to feel what interests people most. Mostly people ask questions about taxes, pensions, salaries... But nevertheless, a large percentage of the questions were devoted to general political topics, foreign policy. Without a doubt, this form of communication between the president and the population, such as a direct line, has a right to exist. It needs to be developed to include even more regions. It should be noted that this practice does not exist in all countries.
“The country really lacks direct and impartial communication with the president”
Viktor POKHMELKIN, independent State Duma deputy:
— Of course, communication with people does not happen directly, but through large filters. As for the President’s message to the Federal Assembly, this has long been an empty declaration, behind which there is no real policy. I would like the president to do approximately what Roosevelt did in his time, who spent an hour and a half every week talking to the country for an hour and a half and, most importantly, explaining actions, ideas, and possible consequences of certain decisions. That is, he explained what policy he was pursuing, where he was going, and reported virtually for every week of his work. This, it seems to me, would be the most correct. After all, answers to the population's questions are one thing, a message to the Federal Assembly is another, and real life and real politics are a third. It seems to me that the country really lacks direct and, if you like, impartial communication with the president.
“This is largely PR.”
Sergei POPOV, independent State Duma deputy, member of the Yabloko party:
- I think that the president’s direct line is largely PR, because the selection of questions that are asked to him differs little from the selection that occurs when letters are received by the presidential administration. The only difference, perhaps, is that the president answers some questions orally. This, of course, is also important; the president expresses his position on certain issues. But I think that from these issues they choose those on which the president himself wants to express his point of view. If you remember, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin at one time had public radio addresses, where he spoke on those issues on which he considered it necessary to speak out. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has a different form - answers to questions from the population.