VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Vladimir Putin's opening remarks:
Ladies and gentlemen,
The nation is approaching the December 4 parliamentary election, and the various political forces in the country are preparing in their own way.
As the country's leading party, United Russia should use this election campaign primarily to create additional tools for reaching out to the public. We should use it as an opportunity to get a better understanding of the problems facing the nation as a whole and each individual citizen, as well as to think about possible solutions.
It was with this purpose in mind that the Russian Popular Front was created, and we've made it a reality thanks to your involvement, assistance and support.
This is why we have arranged for representatives of your organisations to join United Russia election lists for the State Duma. I hope your organisations (and I've spoken about it more that once, and repeat it now) will be more precise in outlining priority tasks and that they will put forward candidates who are really capable of carrying out those tasks at the legislative level.
We've come a long way together. We've complemented our election lists with activists from public organisations. The election of such candidates to the supreme legislative body of our country and their ability to do productive work there will depend on what steps we take from this point on.
We're entering the final phase of the election campaign. In Russia and elsewhere, this is the most challenging stage of a parliamentary election, and all of us – not just United Russia, but all those who have come together in the Russian Popular Front – must step up our efforts and make it clear to the electorate that people who come to the State Duma through United Russia (members and non-members alike) are determined to address the challenges facing the nation. And to be able to show once again how we are going to deal with them in practice, we should persuade voters to support the United Russia ticket, where members of your organisations and associations are featured alongside the party's rank-and-file.
I suggest that we discuss all related issues at our meeting today and focus on how we could mobilise our ranks at this final stage of the election campaign.
I've deliberately avoided identifying all the problems I've got here, precisely laid out in my notes. We have a good enough idea of what they are about.
We need to raise incomes and living standards, to provide state care for the most vulnerable population groups (including pensioners, war veterans and elderly people in general, young people, people with special needs and disabilities, etc.), and to improve the quality of public services, notably in education and in healthcare. Each of these blocks has its own questions, its own difficulties, and its own tasks.
I suggest we get down to our discussions, bearing in mind that the election campaign is now entering its final stage.
