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Vladimir Putin wants to use United Russia for contacts with the public
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is trying to find a useful use for the United Russia party, which he headed immediately after leaving the presidency. Yesterday Vladimir Putin met with deputies of the Duma faction “United Russia”. Perhaps the main outcome of the meeting can be considered the Prime Minister’s stated intention to make his direct lines with the population permanent.The former head of state previously held regular meetings with United Russia activists, and since he agreed to lead the party, he has been doing so “ex officio.” This time, the “bears” arrived early in the morning at the Lesnye Dali holiday home near Moscow to listen to the advice of their non-party leader.
Mr Putin asked United Russia to develop a multi-party system. “We need to be the initiator of dialogue and discussions, to support all the best from the legislative baggage of other parliamentary forces,” said the chairman of United Russia. He considered the party’s decision to give other factions the opportunity to take leadership positions in six Duma committees “absolutely justified.” “This is another step towards building a real multi-party system and civilized political competition,” Mr. Putin is convinced.
The prime minister noted that since United Russia has a parliamentary majority (it has 315 of 450 parliamentary seats), “this places special demands on it, including in building relations with other political forces.” “You have a huge resource of parliamentary influence, the faction is independently capable of passing any law, even constitutional, but real political leadership does not consist in confining yourself to the circle of your own ideas and immediately rejecting any others,” Mr. n Putin.
At the same time, the prime minister noted that it is convenient for the government to rely on a stable parliamentary majority, “this allows it to act both decisively and effectively.” Especially within the current moment. “In the shortest possible time, we can implement the most important initiatives in the interests of citizens and economic development. The newly elected State Duma managed to make a good start both in terms of the number of laws adopted and in their quality and significance,” Mr. Putin praised United Russia.
The prime minister also called on party members to work more actively with citizens and made it clear that he himself was going to act in this direction. “The authority of the faction depends not only on effective legislative work, but also on the ability to convey to each voter the meaning of the decisions made, the reasons that force us to act this way and not otherwise in each specific situation. My reception receives many requests, and my representatives work with them, but, naturally, I would be interested in communicating directly with citizens,” said the Prime Minister. This coming Wednesday, the General Council of United Russia is going to discuss the issue of creating a certain party structure that will work with citizens’ appeals to Mr. Putin.
But if it is still difficult for Putin to constantly communicate with ordinary citizens, then the situation with the regional leaders of the party is easier. “I think that in the fall it will be possible to gather the heads of regional branches and chairmen of the United Russia faction in regional parliaments and begin constant systematic work with them,” said the party chairman.
Then the speaker of the State Duma, chairman of the bureau of the Supreme Council of United Russia, Boris Gryzlov, spoke about the results of the parliamentary session, followed by several other deputies of United Russia. After which the meeting was transferred to closed mode, although in the open air. Having surrounded Putin on the lawn, United Russia members asked him a few more questions. Following the meeting, Boris Gryzlov said that “the meeting participants managed to discuss, maintaining unanimity in their views on the most important issues.” “The impression is very good, a discussion has developed on social support for the population, on methods of combating inflation, on supporting culture and competitive industries,” the speaker told reporters. “We see the unanimity of the faction deputies with the party chairman.” According to him, the prime minister and deputies agreed to create working groups on all bills submitted to the State Duma by the government.