Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with United Russia activists in Barnaul on Tuesday. The president forecasted a majority for the United Russia Party in a next State Duma and leveled a sharp criticism on the opposition. He also participated in the all-Russian student forum.
Medvedev has made a statement a week before November 5, which is the official start of the election campaign, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes. The experts explained Medvedev’s speech with his new role as the top candidate on the United Russia election list.
United Russia shows high activities in the current election campaign, the newspaper noted. Contrary to the previous election campaign, which was full of multi-thousand rallies in support of United Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin, the current election campaign focuses on the speeches of the top officials. Meanwhile, the president is involved more and more actively in the election campaign of the ruling party.
In the best traditions of the party propaganda Medvedev showered criticism on the opposition, “United Russia, as a ruling party, should be compulsorily the party of concrete real deeds. Those, who assumed responsibility, are in a more difficult situation, because they should put it into practice and, secondly, you come under criticism – constructive and absolutely ungrounded.” Medvedev warned United Russia that they should be “morally ready” to the criticizing attacks of opponents.
The problem is that Medvedev is inharmonious for United Russia in contrast to Putin, “Therefore, the president is seeking to prove that he is not an alien for the party. On the other hand, this is some kind of Jesuitism that Medvedev, who earlier supported fair elections, faced the dilemma: whether he at the head of United Russia incites the local authorities to gain high results or the party under his leadership yields low results. Until recently he was in a comfortable position, as the responsibility for falsifications was shouldered on others,” the Nezavisimaya Gazeta quoted a member of the scientific board of the Moscow Carnegie Center Nikolai Petrov as saying.
Active members of the party and real deeds may help United Russia to keep the leadership in parliament after the December elections to the State Duma, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta cited the president as saying. This leadership is needed not for the sake of the leadership of the party, Medvedev stated. “It is needed for the reforms, for the modernization of our country, our economy, social life and in order to make a success,” the president elaborated.
The Kommersant reports that after this event Medvedev went to a student forum, where the students had heated debates about their future and the future of Russia. The forum moderator Alexei Germanovich has drawn an enthusiastic conclusion, “As for Russia’s fate, we have all the life ahead of us!” “We need the modernization of production, science, agriculture and only devoted people can work on this. I hope that all people present will be active students and then active people in various spheres and then our country will change. Let’s be active!” Medvedev underlined.