Translated material
"Nowhere to go"
United Russia activists met with the moral leader of the party
Yesterday, Vladimir Putin met with United Russia activists at the presidential residence in Novo-Ogarevo. 23 deputies took part in the meeting. Among them are State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov, vice-speakers Oleg Morozov, Lyubov Sliska, Vyacheslav Volodin, Vladimir Katrenko, Vladimir Pekhtin, Artur Chilingarov, deputies Vladimir Vasiliev, Andrey Kokoshin, Vladislav Tretyak, Martin Shakkum, Valery Yazev. Although the president has not met with other parties and Duma factions in this composition, according to experts, the current meeting does not guarantee United Russia exclusive support for the head of state in the upcoming Duma elections. Moreover, in the tone of the meeting, notes of the outgoing head of state’s political message to the brainchild of his era were clearly felt.First of all, the president praised United Russia for rejecting populism. “The undoubted advantage of the party is its fundamental rejection of populism and empty promises. I want to emphasize that I am very grateful to you for this,” said the head of state. - The more empty chatter, the more problems there are in the country . I am convinced that real action, practical contribution to solving people’s problems is the most winning election campaign.”
According to Mr. Putin, United Russia is ready to compete in the upcoming December State Duma elections, which will be held this December. “This year’s regional election campaigns showed that United Russia, which received about 45% of the votes, is ready for competition,” the president said. He also noted that the future Duma elections will be the most important event of this year. “For the first time they will pass through a proportional system. This is a serious step towards strengthening democratic institutions, increasing the influence of parties, and, of course, the issue of continuity of the current course and fulfillment of the state’s obligations to the citizens of the country will be resolved,” said the head of state.
Apparently, wanting to continue to protect United Russia members from the temptation of populism, Vladimir Putin called on them to reduce their ambitions for the distribution of budget funds. “Taking into account the fact that we now have a three-year budget , ambitions for the distribution of funds should be significantly reduced,” the president said.
“Your parliamentary faction, and the party as a whole, have actually demonstrated their readiness to get involved in the implementation of the proposed strategic program and thereby, in essence, share political responsibility for its results. I believe that this is a very correct, open position,” Putin continued to praise United Russia. The President also praised the parliamentary majority for supporting the three-year budget . “This is a responsible and correct position, because we understand that it is difficult to restrain emotions when elections are coming up - you can plunder the budget so that there is nothing left but emotions,” the president ironically noted.
Speaker of the State Duma, leader of United Russia Boris Gryzlov, maintaining the ironic tone of the conversation, told the president about the proposal of opposition State Duma deputies Viktor Alksnis and Sergei Baburin to distribute four million rubles to each resident of Russia. “The law is good. The project is good, but there is not enough money,” Putin replied. - What does it mean to give away three and four million? If we’re going to give it away, then we need to get everything and leave. But the question is, the problem and the trouble is that there is nowhere to go and they are not waiting for us anywhere. We need to create conditions to work effectively here.”
Mr. Gryzlov also told the president about the “Professional Team of the Country” program, through which the party in power intends to prepare a personnel reserve for government bodies. “We are launching this program to find approximately six thousand people throughout the country through competitions and surveys who can join the country’s Professional Team,” the leader of his favorite party told the president.
After the meeting, one of its participants, vice speaker of the State Duma and head of the United Russia headquarters for the upcoming Duma elections, Vladimir Volodin, continuing the nostalgic theme of the president’s upcoming departure from his post, said: “Putin is the moral leader of the United Russia party. For us, he will always be a leader - yesterday, today and tomorrow, regardless of what position he holds."
“This meeting is a signal that United Russia remains the president’s party,” Deputy Director General of the Center for Political Technologies Alexei Makarkin told a Vremya Novostey correspondent. - But the proportions of its support in the elections are still unclear. The president's praise of United Russia for its moderation and lack of populism may be an indirect criticism of A Just Russia, which yesterday said it would not vote for a three-year budget and criticizes the country's economic policies. However, only during the election campaign will we be able to see how the president’s support will be distributed between the two parties. In 2003, support for United Russia was exclusive. Now such exclusivity is unlikely to exist.”