Past Saturday, President Dmitry Medvedev met another time with regional reporters at his residence in Gorki. During the meeting, he threatened with severe sanctions to staff of the Defence Ministry and to those responsible for the failures in the space sector. He also refused categorically to organise another party of power.
Reporters asked the president, if the country should have another party of power, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports, in order to follow experience of developed democratic states, where change of power allows the electorate to choose not the least of two evils but the best of good. Dmitry Medvedev replied that as yet one party of power – United Russia - is quite enough for this country. He refused categorically to organise – from the top – another party. He said that the nation may do it via voting at the elections, as the country has already a legal mechanism for periodical change of power. However, the president said, the main problem is in the existing parties, where not all of them suit the role of a leading party. Thus, the newspaper writes, now Medvedev repeats like his own the words of his predecessor Putin, who used to stress that everything with democracy in the country is fine, and that we have more than enough parties.
Dmitry Medvedev said that during the coming year, Russia may soften the law on political parties, the Moskovsky Komsomolets writes. He said that, for example, choice criteria may become not so tough. “We have seven parties, and their success of failure in the long run is decision of the nation, is voting,” he said. Nevertheless, Medvedev is sure that there should not be too many political parties – he claims it is difficult for electors to make preferences.
During the meeting, Medvedev warned the Defence Ministry and defence industries against failure of the state defence order in 2012, the newspaper reports. In case of a failure they will be fired. “If next year resembles slightly the current year, we shall have to fire, and to fire massively, staff of the two sides,” the president promised. He said that the government had allocated for the state defence order of 2012 “giant money” and to 2020 the armed forces should be re-equipped by 70 percent.
The head of the country promised more severe sanctions against those responsible for falling of Russia’s space apparatuses – up to criminal punishment. “To punish seriously. Either materially – to squeeze all the money sent. Or another variant: in case of a clear responsibility for a failure, it may be discipline or criminal responsibility,” he said. Though Medvedev promises “a detailed blamestorming” to identify everyone responsible for latest failures in the space sphere, he promises not to shoot anybody, “like it was in the times of Iosif Vissarionovich /Stalin/.”