4 april 2013

Dmitry Medvedev meets with United Russia activists

Participants:

Dmitry Medvedev’s opening remarks:

This is quite an unusual meeting, but I think it will prove very useful and necessary. We have here United Russia leaders and Government members. I’m playing a dual role – both as the head of the party and Prime Minister.

We agreed to hold this meeting after I spoke at the opening of the Civil Forum on March 27. I hope it will be useful for all those present.

I don’t think I need to introduce you to each other. There are United Russia party activists among our Cabinet.

I’d like to make a few introductory remarks. Russia is a presidential republic, but the ruling party and its members in the State Duma are very important for the formation of the Government. They vote for the Prime Minister thereby giving consent to the formation of the Government, and the Government is required to submit an annual report to the State Duma.  

To some extent, the current Government is the first in our history that can be called a party government, if only because the Prime Minister heads the ruling party. This is why closer cooperation between the Government and party leaders is both natural and essential – this is the purpose of such meetings.

I’d like to thank the United Russia parliamentary party for supporting the Government’s initiatives, especially during the adoption of the federal budget for 2013. This is always a difficult process since the task of the Government is to pass its decisions, and the function of the State Duma is to subject them to expert discussion. In the near future we’ll submit to the Duma a list of most important draft laws that the Government has elaborated and would like to adopt before the end of the spring session.

I’d like to note that United Russia’s strong representation in the Duma should help the Government pass legislation that is necessary but not always popular. Therefore, I’d like to draw your attention to the need for the party to share responsibility for what is happening in our economy. We are responsible for everything that happens in the country because we embody government power – the Government represents executive power and the Duma and Federation Council are legislative bodies.

And one more remark – I don’t see anything bad in members of the Duma or the Federation Council occupying different positions, or in general if party representatives and Government members have different views.

When this happens, opposition forces are usually more worried than others. They start huffing and puffing: “Look they are arguing on some issues; they cannot come to terms, so they are in a crisis and are unfit for decision-making.”

I’d like all those present here to know my position. We don’t have Article 6 that the Soviet Constitution had. Our Constitution does not have an article about the ruling role of the party, and unanimity of opinion is not required. Moreover, our party has three platforms – social, liberal and patriotic. So divergence of opinion on different issues is possible and even useful in some cases. Different opinions allow us to hold serious discussions and make some conclusions.

That said, United Russia and the Government have and will continue to have common positions on the key issues of the development of our country, state and society. Nobody should have any doubts about this. This is my view as the party chairman and Prime Minister, and it is shared by all those present. I’d like to ask our Government members and party leaders to be guided by it.

The issue of communication is very important. Sharing opinions and ideas makes it possible to find the most effective ways to resolve current problems. Moreover, United Russia has the largest number of members and is the biggest political organisation and it can really help the Government to consider better the views of the majority of our people.

The Government has already suggested discussing draft laws before they are officially submitted to the State Duma (as I understand, this idea is fully supported by our colleagues in the Duma) so as to consider all potential consequences of their enforcement. In this case draft laws can be adjusted before going to parliament. This form of consultation will allow us to overcome the most serious differences before the start of the legislative process. We can also speak about discussing draft laws from a political standpoint.

Naturally, I’m not saying that all draft laws should be discussed like this (otherwise the Government and the State Duma will do nothing but hold such debates). I’m referring to high-profile draft laws that affect the social sphere, key issues of economic development, and housing and utilities – the issues that concern the interests of the overwhelming majority of our people. We could discuss them at first within the party. I think this would be sensible. I believe that participation of ministers in the discussion of Government draft laws within the context of party platforms will be helpful and will allow us to predict the reaction of people with different political views and to take into account different positions. We are trying to adopt laws that are approved by the absolute majority of our people. This is the purpose of the consultations and parliamentary procedures that all draft laws go through.

Considering that United Russia is the largest political party and that party agencies exist in all regions and municipalities, we can get people with very different views and of different professions from all corners of our huge country involved in the discussion of such documents. This is the backbone of social consensus and stable development of the country. This is essential for modernising the social sphere and the economy. This is a foundation of the line that we define as conservative but oriented to modernisation. This should be the goal of our work.

Now we’ll exchange opinions and then I’d like to ask Government members and United Russia leaders to discuss different issues at their own venues.

 

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