Last Saturday, President Dmitry Medvedev met with cultural works and representatives of Internet communities, the mass media, science and business. He told them about his plans for the future, and brought forward the initiative to form the so-called "big" government. He did not elaborate what the new format of the Cabinet would look like or who might enter it.
Dmitry Medvedev made another attempt to explain why he decided to drop out of the race, the "Novye Izvestia" emphasizes. He said any public figure or politicians should take into account the set-up and the opinions existing in the society. Medvedev underlined that he had no intention to quit politics, as "he does not intend to underestimate his potential, which is not yet fully realized." He also told about the moves he might take in the future.
In the first place, the president offered his supporters to think about how to overhaul the government system (without dramatics, engaging in transformations calmly, inexorably, unswervingly, and firmly)," the newspaper goes on to say. The initiative to set up the so-called "big" government (also known as "expanded Cabinet) became the cornerstone of Dmitry Medvedev's future program. According to the head of state, such government would work together with the main party that can form this government; "with United Russia, with the civil society, experts, regional and municipal authorities, all voters who are ready to vote for us, and also with those who disagree with us, provided they are ready for it, of course." Experts and the Opposition activists criticized the presidential initiative, the "Novye Izvestia" writes. Most of them failed to understand what kind of government Medvedev had proposed.
The "Izvestia" quotes political scientist Andrei Piontkovsky who believes that had been no explanations whatever on this account: "I sincerely wished to understand what an expanded Cabinet would look like, but I didn't hear any hints."
During the function, Dmitry Medvedev made maximum efforts to reconcile his supporters and the followers of the United Russia party, the "RBK Daily" writes. Earlier, experts and some Party sociologists noted that ideologically, Dmitry Medvedev would not be the best leader for United Russia. The Party leadership even began to persuade Vladimir Putin to take part in the election campaign together with the president. The Kremlin still hopes that the president’s rating might bring the Party 5 to 10 percent of votes.