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Medvedev ready to head government

President is ready to "work for the good of the country"

MOSCOW, September 24 (Itar-Tass) — President Dmitry Medvedev said he is ready to head the government in 2012.

“A new government should be formed in our country, and if we succeed in doing this, I’m ready to head the government and work for the benefit of the country,” Medvedev said at the United Russia party congress on Saturday.

Earlier, Medvedev urged members of the United Russia party to support incumbent Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the 2012 presidential elections. The congress’ delegates upheld this proposal.

“I’d like to set myself up for the serious and responsible work. If we’ve made it, we’ll have a modern, creative and effective parliament and we’ll elect our candidate and not anyone other,” Medvedev said.

Medvedev headed the list of candidates in the parliamentary elections scheduled for December 4.

“I’m practically sure that we’ll succeed in achieving our goals,” he said. “Our task is not to turn back from our path and to be effective, honest and open, sometimes more severe in order to effect the desired result,” Medvedev said.

The Russian president also said he is ready work in a “renovated government” to be formed by the United Russia party.

“Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin as the party chairman has just officially addressed me and the congress with a proposal to head the list of United Russia,” Medvedev told congress delegates. “Sure, this is a responsible and very serious proposal. I accept it.”

“If the party wins the elections, and I’m sure of this in actual fact, if we work as well as in the past, I’m ready to continue actual activities to modernise our economy, to raise living standards of our people and to build a modern legal state,” Medvedev said.

He said the renovated government, which would be formed by the winning party, “should be preoccupied with practical course for modernising our life”.

“Taking into account my agreement to head the party list, I believe it correct to back Putin’s candidacy for the post of the country’s president,” Medvedev said.

“What we have proposed the congress is a well-thought-out decision. Even more, we discussed, indeed, this version of developments at the time when our comradely union was formed,” Medvedev said.

“The passing years have convinced us, and I hope most of our citizens of the correct nature of our strategy and efficiency of our model of administration,” the president claimed.

“The fact that we did not announce long enough in public our position till this time – I hope that you will understand us, as will our citizens – this is a question of political expediency and pursuance of the law of political genre in our country,” the president said.

In turn, Putin confirmed that “an understanding what to do in future” between him and Medvedev was “reached long ago, several years back”.

“However, when we follow this discussion from aside, and I and Dmitry Medvedev believe that this is far from the main thing—who will be preoccupied with what and who will occupy which places,” Putin added. “Another thing is much more important: how all of us work, what results we reach and how citizens of our country treat this,” the party leader said.