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The second ruling party may grow from Putin’s All-Russian Popular Front

The ONF members elected in the State Duma are having the ideas to form new parties, the RBC daily reports

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had a meeting with members of the Coordination Council of the All-Russian Popular Front (ONF) on Tuesday. Putin, who remained the formal leader of the United Russia Party, stated that the organization will remain in politics, and recommended the All-Russian Popular Front to gain the status of public organization. Meanwhile, the president elect did not refuse to stay at the head of its council. The experts do not rule out a second ruling party to appear in the country.

Vladimir Putin pledged that after the elections the All-Russian Popular Front will not go into oblivion, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta writes. On the contrary, thanks to its 80 deputies working in the United Russia faction in the State Duma the front will retain the direct influence on lawmaking. The prime minister also recommended to continue the audit of the bills and the work with the municipalities.

The ONF members elected in the State Duma are having the ideas to form new parties, the RBC daily reports. “But we should not split the United Russia faction to say the least,” a deputy elected from the All-Russian Popular Front Vyacheslav Lysakov noted. Putin could not agree on this. Following the suit of the neighbouring countries Russia should not turn in a country with the paralyzed parliament, the Russian president elect cited the main argument in favour of this fact.

The Tuesday meeting has an important underpinning, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta cited the general director of the Centre of Political Technologies Igor Bunin as saying. The expert does not rule out a probable ONF transformation in a political party. If Putin joins ONF in some way, the brand of the party “will be gradually eliminated,” Bunin said with confidence, “because it is not viable itself.” “Unless Putin wants this transformation, because there are some deputies from United Russia and the party is needed in the State Duma. But the gradual process of shifting the weight from the ruling party to the All-Russian Popular Front already continues,” Bunin said.

“Probably, there is an attempt to try a scenario, when the parties are getting weaker somehow and the work with self-nominees continues. But this does not abolish United Russia, does not cancel its probable putting under the leadership of Dmitry Medvedev. So, this is a game with formats. But there is no full understanding of the situation. Therefore, both scenarios – ONF and United Russia will go on simultaneously,” political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov told the Kommersant

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