Translated material
Chairman Putin
The current president agreed to lead the party and government
United Russia has become probably the only party in the world led by a non-partisan. Yesterday at the United Russia congress, current President Vladimir Putin led the party without joining it. And at the same time, he publicly confirmed his agreement to head the government under President Dmitry Medvedev. Especially for Mr. Putin, the day before, United Russia established the post of non-party chairman of the party, and the Ministry of Justice immediately, in less than 24 hours, registered the updated charter of United Russia. Now Vladimir Putin, in particular, has a legal opportunity to influence governors and heads of municipalities who are members of United Russia (and these are the absolute majority) along party lines.For United Russia, finding a new leader was a real holiday - the party leadership dreamed of this for many years, never tired of repeating that Vladimir Putin is their moral leader. The official formalization of his leadership should, according to United Russia, open a qualitatively new page in the history of the party. And at the same time, to more closely link the legislative and executive powers, because Mr. Putin will assume the powers of the leader of United Russia on May 7, almost simultaneously with the transition to the post of Prime Minister of Russia (he will take this post on May 8).
Mr. Putin predictably refused to get too close to his party and remained non-partisan. On the sidelines of the congress, United Russia members expressed the hope that someday he would agree to become a member of the party. True, exactly the same hopes were expressed in September 2007 at the last congress of United Russia, when Vladimir Putin headed the party list in the Duma elections.
Party members made the fateful decision in just an hour. The first to speak was the Chairman of the Supreme Council of United Russia, Speaker of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov. He told the congress about the role of the party in the development and implementation of the strategy for the socio-economic development of Russia until 2020 and assessed the situation in the country. “The Russian economy is still an economy of monopolies. An economy lacking a competitive environment. Indeed, natural monopolies strengthen the country in many ways, but in general monopolies hinder its development. The country, having jumped off the oil needle, should not fall under the drip of other monopolies,” the State Duma speaker figuratively put it. And he proposed putting state corporations under the control of parliament.
Mr. Gryzlov noted with disapproval the growth of bureaucracy that occurred during the reign of Vladimir Putin and United Russia. “The number of federal executive bodies has grown to 85, and the number of bureaucrats has grown from one to one and a half million. This is not to say that this helped work better. By the beginning of 2008, unused budget funds exceeded 1 trillion rubles,” said Mr. Gryzlov. Speaking about the fight against corruption, the State Duma speaker noted: “We must strive to ensure that more provisions of the law have direct effect. “Forks” in the legislation allow bribe takers to eat caviar with spoons! The smaller the “fork” is, the smaller the spoon will be!” Judging by the applause, the speaker's play on words was liked by the congress delegates.
In addition, Boris Gryzlov put forward the idea of a new party project, “Culture of Russia,” which would involve doubling cultural funding over the next three years.
The Chairman of the Supreme Council reminded the congress delegates that the main task of the party, outlined in its pre-election program statement, was saving the people. The objectives formulated in the “Putin Plan”, such as a place in the top five leading economies in the world and a fourfold increase in labor productivity, should serve precisely this goal.
At the end of his speech, Boris Gryzlov uttered words that were much more important for the fate of United Russia functionaries than “Strategy 2020”: on behalf of the party, he invited current President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Dmitry Medvedev to join United Russia. And he also offered Mr. Putin to lead the party.
Dmitry Medvedev was the first to speak in response. He thanked the party for its support in the elections, but politely refused to join it. “I appreciate and am grateful to everyone who made me this offer. Of course, United Russia is a party of my like-minded people, a party ideologically very close to me. But for now, I consider it premature for me to directly participate in its activities. I am convinced that after my election as head of state it would be right to remain outside of direct affiliation with one of the political parties,” Mr. Medvedev said.
At the same time, he called Mr. Putin’s offer to head United Russia “logical and timely.” “The president’s consent will strengthen the party, and at the same time strengthen cooperation between the legislative and executive authorities at the federal level, opening up the prospect of forming a Russian government based on a parliamentary majority,” Mr. Medvedev said. And he noted that, given Putin’s upcoming assumption of the post of prime minister, “the implementation of this proposal will lead to the formation of a consolidated and truly powerful political force.”
Then Vladimir Putin spoke. “Leadership in the party of the chief executive is a civilized, natural, traditional practice for democratic states,” the president said, without mentioning, however, that the leading chief executives in the parties in democratic states are necessarily members of their parties. “The coordinated work of the government and the parliamentary majority makes it possible to successfully solve the problems of economic development, improving the quality of healthcare and education, increasing incomes of the population, and strengthening the defense capability of our state. Therefore, I gratefully accept the offer of the party members and its leadership. Thanks a lot. I am ready to take on additional responsibility and lead United Russia.
At the same time, Mr. Putin expressed the wish that Boris Gryzlov continue to coordinate all current activities of the party - he will remain as chairman of the party's supreme council. Finally, the current president set a condition for United Russia. According to him, the party “must become more open to discussions and take into account the opinions of voters, must be completely de-bureaucratized, cleared of random people pursuing exclusively personal goals and personal benefits, it is called upon to actively work with youth, intelligentsia, entrepreneurs, workers, rural workers , to help promote the most gifted, energetic, decent professionals into all spheres of public life.”
After this, United Russia, to the accompaniment of their own applause, unanimously elected Vladimir Putin as party chairman for a term of four years. He will officially take up his new position only on May 7, the day of Dmitry Medvedev’s inauguration. Nevertheless, Mr. Putin made his final remarks at yesterday’s congress in his capacity as chairman of United Russia. He promised to do everything to strengthen the influence and authority of the party and use its capabilities for the benefit of the country.
Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Vyacheslav Volodin yesterday shared with reporters news about another upcoming personnel decision. “There will be a position of another deputy chairman of the party’s general council, who will work with sports clubs, the institute of lawmaking and economics, as well as creativity,” said Mr. Volodin. This position will most likely be occupied by the head of the Duma public relations department, Yuri Shuvalov. Other deputy chairmen of the General Council, Yuri Luzhkov, Sergei Shoigu and Mintimer Shaimiev, will continue their work.