MOSCOW, December 7 (Itar-Tass) — Oppositionists must become responsible politicians instead of inciting their allies to violate law at meetings and protest rallies, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in a televised interview on Friday.
“The most important thing for political leaders, no matter what forces they represent, is to be responsible politicians,” the prime minister stated. “Udaltsov, you have mentioned, should rather do real work and legally defend his position instead of instigating his supporters to violate the law on rallies,” the prime minister believes.
“(A responsible leader of any political movement) must do all so that his allies don’t go to prison, and must explain to them what can be done and what cannot, in order not to damage his ideals and goals,” Medvedev believes.
“If a person is ready to hit a policeman, he must realize that he will be made responsible for that, and it does not matter what party he represents at a meeting – the ruling or an opposition one, represented in parliament or not,” the prime minister said. “This is a crime in any country, in ours as well, and this will never be left unpunished,” Medvedev stressed.
According to him, this was the reason to revise the legislation on rallies, making it more accurate. The prime minister also reminded the audience about his meeting with the opposition. “I am not afraid to sit down at the same table with anyone, if this person is not going to bite in the direct sense of the word,” he said, adding that contacts with all political forces are useful for the authorities.
However, according to Medvedev the main question is “whether these forces themselves are ready to become responsible”. “After that meeting it became clear that some are ready – some of them have registered their parties and try to promote them, while others are not,” he added.
“The course of developments since that meeting indicates that the colleagues claiming political future must be responsible,” he summed up.