Vladimir Putin's speech:
Good afternoon, Mr President, colleagues,
First, allow me to make some remarks regarding our current discussion. You have made some serious observations and we will certainly take them into account. We will analyze everything and use it as a guide for action.
As for the persecution of certain officials and political leaders, this is absolutely unacceptable if it's done for no reason. Dmitry Medvedev is issuing instructions to law-enforcement bodies in this respect and we will do everything in the government to prevent this from happening.
At the same time it was noted that we had never persecuted people for ideas or deeds. Think about the notorious article on anti-Soviet activities. It existed and was actively used. Mikhail Zoshchenko once said: "A word spoken is past recalling, but not with us. Here it will be recalled and you'll be caught and sentenced to a term in prison." Regrettably this was part of our life.
Now I would like to say a few words about the responsibilities of officials and representatives in any organisation that have violated the law. Please note that so-called representatives of authority are not immune to the law. We have examples of criminal persecution, whereby some high-ranking officials were convicted by a court of law and had to serve a term in prison. These include the heads of some regions representing the ruling party. There should be no exceptions in this respect. We will allow no exceptions at all.
Now I would like to reply to the statements about monopolisation and United Russia being the party of big business and of top officials. If this had been the case, we would have acted quite differently during the crisis. We would have frozen pensions and salaries and would have reduced taxes. This is the logic of the market economy.
But we did the reverse. We used the reserves to maintain a normal functioning economy. Despite the crisis-related difficulties, we managed to increase the level of income in this country by at least 1%. We have channeled an enormous sum, more than 700 billion roubles into reforming the pension system during the economic downturn and are planning to increase pensions by 46% this year.
To sum up, I consider such statements inaccurate.
Now I'd like to define the popularity of this or any other party. Popularity is determined by elections. If people vote for a party, it is popular. If not, it is a group of people united by certain ideas, which have not won consistent public support.
Now a few words about fraud and references to the internet. Half of what is displayed on the internet is porno! Why quote the internet? If you have evidence, take it to court.
It is absolutely right that we must consolidate the judicial system. I fully agree with that. I wholeheartedly support the proposal to analyze laws for possible corruption loopholes, with the participation of parliamentary parties and other experts. I absolutely agree with this.
Now I'd like to reply to those who spoke about "the point of no return" and the timeliness of reforms within the Soviet context. But reforms were also launched in the Soviet Union. What matters is how they were carried out and what their outcome was.
As regards the judicial system and a proposal to elect judges at different levels and organisations: You know that we have many problems with our law-enforcement bodies and the judicial system. If we establish a closed corporation beyond anyone's control, I don't know what we'll get.
I would like to repeat - I consider it correct to think about reorganising and improving the judicial system and law-enforcement bodies but we must display extreme caution in the process. We have already put our judicial system virtually beyond public and government control. I do not know whether the judicial system itself has benefited from that. We have had to adjust many things taking place there.
And, finally, allow me to say a few words about today's agenda. No political system in world history has been free of systemic problems and serious shortcomings. This is true today, too. There is no flawless political system in the world and never has been.
In Russia we have always proceeded from the assumption that we need stability in the political system, but one that is sensitive to the changes at home and abroad. And this political system must certainly guarantee our sovereignty.
We have done much in this respect in the last few years. Before improving and consolidating our political system, we first had to restore Russia's territorial integrity and guarantee consistent application of the constitution. We have done this with your help.
We have reformed the rules for shaping the Federation Council. This is an important step, in particular, for countering corruption. Representatives of the opposition parties spoke about this and with good reason. But this was the purpose of this reform, which fully conforms to democratic principles. References were made here to the Federal Republic of Germany, where the laender governments form the upper chamber of parliament. They appoint its members directly. I believe we have a much more flexible system, which conforms to today's realities here.
Furthermore, we have delineated the terms of reference between different levels of government and management. Probably, not everything has yet been done, and the system is still imperfect but the first and very important step has already been made. Many political manipulators and oligarchs have been removed from political influence. We have strengthened our multi-party system. We mentioned how opposition parties have expanded their presence in the regions. This is a very serious change.
We continue improving our political culture. A procedure requiring the government to report to parliament has been introduced by the president. We have started this practice and will continue developing it.
The government of the Russian Federation will continue conducting consultations on vital issues with all opinions represented in the Duma and in the country in general. We are actively doing this while preparing to adopt the budget and will improve these mechanisms in working on other issues as well.
Technological support for modernisation also depends on the government. Incidentally, this is an expensive undertaking, and here we must carefully sort out our priorities and act gradually, but we will do this.
The world is changing and it would be self-defeating not to change with it. We should change but this must be done in due time.
We must continuously think about improving our political system and make timely adjustments. But it is important, and I support the last speaker in this respect, that we must act with extreme caution. We must not allow our political culture to follow a Ukrainian scenario, and we must also prevent it from sliding into totalitarianism and despotism. Unfortunately, we know examples of this within the post-Soviet space.
In considering improvements to our political system and deliberate actions toward this end, we must proceed from one more principle, which is intrinsic in any effective political system. I'm referring to a certain amount of conservatism. A political system should not tremble like jelly at every touch.
We have gathered in the Kremlin today to elaborate a common position and to act with caution and in a timely manner.
Many thanks for your attention.
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When a journalist asked Putin after the meeting how well he took the criticism, he replied: "We had a discussion. I think that some of the things we heard were working proposals. We had a good conversation. As for polemics, it is only natural."