Translated material
"Don't think that everything is predetermined"
The President finished his campaign
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made his long-awaited address to the people, which was broadcast on daytime television news as "the president's answers to numerous questions from media representatives and Russian citizens about his attitude to the upcoming elections." At the same time, no one asked the president questions on air and he himself did not refer to them. The president also did not answer the main question that everyone is asking: what he himself intends to do after the parliamentary elections and who could become his successor if he really remains in the role of a national leader without a specific government post.In fact, this televised address to the nation was the end of the campaign for the party, the list of which the president agreed to lead in the elections. As in his recent speech at a forum of his supporters in Luzhniki , Mr. Putin called for voting for United Russia in order to maintain the continuity of the presidential course, thanks to which “the economy is growing steadily, poverty, although slowly, is receding.” , and there has been progress in the fight against terrorism. And again he warned against certain enemies of stability, who were already in power in the “troubled” 90s, and are now ready to take revenge.
“No need for illusions. All these people have not left the political scene. You will find their names among the candidates and sponsors of some parties. They want to take revenge, return to power, to spheres of influence. And gradually restore the oligarchic regime based on corruption and lies,” Vladimir Putin said at a forum of his supporters on November 21. “If we want to live truly with dignity, then we cannot allow those who have already once unsuccessfully tried to “steer” the country to come to power again, and today would like to reshape and talk about Russia’s development plans, change the course supported by our people, return the times humiliation, dependence and disintegration,” the president said in an address to the people yesterday.
In his television speech, he called the idea that the country’s development vector is predetermined a “dangerous illusion,” and therefore called on Russians to vote for “United Russia.” “Do not think that everything is predetermined and that the current pace of development and the vector of our movement towards success will be maintained automatically. This is a dangerous illusion. Everything that has been done has been achieved by us in a stubborn struggle and can only be preserved with our common active civil position,” the president said.
Opponents have repeatedly reproached Mr. Putin for using his official position to campaign for United Russia. However, yesterday, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Russia, Vladimir Churov, speaking at the presentation of the Elections information center, once again confirmed that the campaigning is legal. He said that in addition to the fact that Putin is the current president, he is also a candidate on the federal list of one of the parties. Therefore, according to Mr. Churov, Putin, as a candidate, has the right to campaign for his list. Although it was clearly stated on the TV channels that it was the president, and not the candidate for deputy, who was answering the questions.
True, this time in the news releases (and not at a time specially designated for campaigning), following Putin’s, campaign messages from the leaders of the LDPR and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation - Gennady Zyuganov and Vladimir Zhirinovsky - were also heard. So the violation of the law prohibiting campaigning on TV outside the specially designated time for this can, if desired, be attributed to three parties at once. Or not attribute it to anyone.
Opposition representatives yesterday continued to insist that Mr Putin's campaigning would not add any extra points to United Russia. “Putin’s resource has already been exhausted. Such frontal propaganda by United Russia does not add new supporters. But there are more and more opponents every day. Putin is right about one thing: nothing has been decided yet,” believes Nikita Belykh, leader of the Union of Right Forces.
“If the authorities had some new effective argument in their favor, they would have used it long ago,” Ivan Melnikov, also First Deputy Chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Central Committee, shared his opinion with a Vremya Novostei correspondent. - And today the president used the same meager phraseology, which does not convince to support the party in power, but rather emphasizes its growing uncertainty in support from citizens. In general, I think that the appeal will not play any role in the last days of the campaign and will not affect the balance of power. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is looking forward to December 2 with optimism and is counting on citizens no less than our opponents.”