All news

Ruling United Russia needs competition - Vladislav Surkov

According to the deputy prime minister, Russia’s political system “is keeping abreast with society.”

LONDON, May 2 (Itar-Tass) - A party capable of competing with the ruling United Russia party would be useful for Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov said on Wednesday at a meeting with students of one of Britain’s leading academic institutions, the London School of Economics.

“I think that United Russia must live in conditions of competition. It is normal and now such competition will grow,” he said. “I am sure that another big party capable of competing with United Russia would be useful for Russia. And maybe we even should help establish such party.”

“So I think this is a normal process that reflects the evolution of society to the extent it has reached,” Surkov noted and added that Russia has a “practically free party registration system.”

According to the deputy prime minister, Russia’s political system “is keeping abreast with society.” “Russia has a political system that reflects the mentality and the spirit of the Russian people,” he stressed.

Dwelling on Russia’s political system, Surkov noted that it had not been razed after the opposition rallies of December 2011. “The system is not broken. It is somebody’s figment,” he said. “The system, of which I have the honor to be a co-author, is in place, it has survived the 2011 elections.”

In his words, the current political system in Russia has “got an upper hand on the opposition.” “It is a fact. The system should not be exterminated, it should not be brought down, it should adapt itself to the changing conditions,” he noted. “Changes in the system do not mean its liquidation. I believe it is just a method of reforming. Life is changing, so the political system should change as well. There are no contradictions here.”

When Russia’s political system was faced with certain challenges back in 2011, “it saw that there was discontent in society, a rather profound discontent, but it managed to adapt,” he stressed. “It has finally demonstrated a long-awaited tough approach to extremists and, after all, to those who though it possible to attack policemen, and they have been punished heavily.”