President Dmitry Medvedev urges United Russia to bring itself up to date.
On Saturday, the 11th congress of United Russia (UR) ended in St Petersburg. It adopted amendments to the party's charter and proclaimed a new ideology - Russian conservatism. At the congress President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged the party to join the drive for modernisation - the goal that was proclaimed in the address to the Federal Assembly, renounced the use of administrative resources in elections and spoke against bureaucratic tendencies in the party.
The congress elected the following new members to the Supreme Council: St Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin, film director Fyodor Bondarchuk and jazzman Igor Butman. It expelled from the council former Ingush President Murat Zyazikov, Senators Yegor Stroyev and Gennady Gorbunov, Advisor to the President of Russian Railways Alexandra Buratayeva, Director of the Serbsky National Research Centre for Social and Forensic Psychiatry Tatyana Dmitriyeva, and the designer of the Bulava missile and former Director of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology (MITT) Yury Solomonov. The reasons for their expulsions were not given.
In times of financial crisis, UR saved money by reducing the scale of the congress. Pushing each other at the entrance to the Lenexpo Exhibition Centre and in the coat room, party members complained that the hall was much smaller than at the previous forums and worried that the space would not have room for all participants. Delegates and guests had to queue throughout the congress.
Speaking at the congress, Medvedev and Putin described how the country needed to tighten its belt during the crisis. Both started their speeches by recalling the discussion of anti-crisis measures at the past year's congress and by urging party members to facilitate economic modernisation. Medvedev noted that UR was the only political force capable of being responsible for its decisions. In the spirit of his recent address to the Federal Assembly he explained that UR members can achieve change only if they change themselves: "The economy should be built not with bribes and kick backs but with the latest competitive advantages!" he said to the applause of the audience.
Getting rid of bad habits
Medvedev continued to speak about party ills: "Citizens have the right to expect of you not simply to facilitate modernisation but also to demand specific results. The ruling party's position comes with great responsibilities, and it is not a permanent privilege but is maintained with daily work."
The president warned party members against abusing administrative resources and he noted that party intrigues have replaced political work in many regional branches.
"As a result, democratic procedures sometimes become entangled with administrative ones. We need to get rid of both the people who are involved in this and the underlying bad political habits," Medvedev said. Gleb Pavlovsky, head of the Effective Policy Foundation, who attended the congress, believes that there is certain gap between Medvedev and Putin's position on the one hand and the reality of UR, a heavily structured party which would be difficult to modernise. "For the time being we are at the limit. The president urges the party to move forward but it spends too much time thinking," Pavlovsky told Gazeta.
In his opinion, conservatism is often confused with reactionary tendencies in Russia and the reactionary faction in the party is very strong. "Countering this is a condition of modernisation. Therefore, countering it under the banner of conservatism is a very difficult task. Groups of conservatives will fight against each other, trying to prove that their opponents are not genuine conservatives," Pavlovsky said.
Party members heeded the president's appeal and left six vacancies for the regional leaders who will be approved during re-election of the members of the Supreme Council.
"If any leader from the party lists takes advantage of administrative resources in the elections at any level, he or she will immediately be expelled from United Russia instead of getting into the Supreme Council," member of the General Council Yevgeny Fyodorov said. "There is also the risk that opposition members will pay off officials for help at the elections," he added.
The party is not going to give up on regional leaders. "A governor who is a regional leader is one story, but the party's attempt to influence people in certain positions is another story. UR must renounce this practice. As for regional leaders, this issue requires additional discussion," said Yury Shuvalov, deputy secretary of the General Council Presidium.
There should be no crooked companies
Party leader Vladimir Putin spoke after Medvedev. For about an hour he explained to the party members what economic targets should be reached next year. Many regional delegates began falling asleep during his long speech but woke up instantly when the prime minister urged them to take part in dismantling the bureaucracy. Putin lashed out at the state apparatus for dragging its feet. He recalled that many important developments in the country were being stalled because of the time wasted collecting different permits and other excessive documentation.
"The issue of permits, all kinds of documents and papers, has become a quite profitable business for ‘friendly' firms and a variety of crooked companies," Putin said.
Viktor Tolokonsky, governor of the Novosibirsk Region and a delegate to the congress, told Gazeta on this subject that many federal and regional programmes really "produce very few results and are being stalled by bureaucratic agreements."
Putin also promised that the government would adopt a programme to upgrade the quality of public services, and he instructed regional and municipal leaders to do the same on a smaller scale.
Vladimir Pligin, a member of the General Council and head of the Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Development, reminded Gazeta that a relevant draft had already been endorsed by the Duma in the first reading the day before. "This lengthy document regulates the order of rendering public services. It also sets standards and describes the legal status of administrative regulations. The description of public services will allow for a delivery of better services and people will no longer need to pay extra to mediators."
Not only to promote but also to demote
Chairman of the UR Supreme Council Boris Gryzlov was the next to take the floor. He announced the party's new ideological platform - Russian conservatism. Party members are convinced that it fully matches the slogan of the country's modernisation, including its political side.
"The ideology of Russian conservatism corresponds to the interests of national development," Yury Shuvalov said. "Economic policy must be compatible with social priorities. We believe that the adopted party programme will substantially affect the law-making activities of our deputies. Laws supporting the construction industry and mortgages will be passed in accordance with new technical regulations and the strategic plans for regional economic development."
Shuvalov is convinced that the programme, which gives priority to regional development and the growth of the middle class, will become one of the longest-running in UR history. He said the party would not change its programme in the next ten years.
In the meantime, Gryzlov urged the party to carefully clean up its ranks. "Promotions are great but we must also demote those who have not achieved what we have expected of them," he said in the end of his speech.
The congress adopted a new party charter that makes it easier for young people to join the party. Young people can become UR supporters before they reach age 18. In the past they had to be 18 for six months to become a supporter, but the delegates considered this to be a violation of the constitutional right of citizens to join a political party at age 18. The new charter allows young people to become UR supporters before 18 so that they may get a party card as soon as they become adults. The charter also requires party members to take part in election debates with their opponents and to form party lists only on the basis of interparty voting, that is, primaries.
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Terms of the new UR programme
Russian conservatism is the ideology that the party has designed to rid the country of its old social ills and remove obstacles in the way of progress and new achievements.
Its goal is to build a new, free, prosperous and strong Russia on the basis of common indisputable values.
Our party is guided by the preserve-and-multiply principle. It is the basis of Russian conservatism.
People are our absolute priority.
Russia is called upon to take an active role in the advancement of the principles of international law and order. It should reject the attempts of those who would impose on it extraneous values and ideas of the unipolar world. At the same time, it should not avoid the struggle to resolve global problems or isolate itself.
The party advocates freedom of the media, which cannot be attained without their social responsibilities to citizens and society.
We will strongly oppose any attempts by extremists to determine domestic policy.
One of the major goals of our strategy is to increase the average life expectancy to 75 years by 2020.
By 2020, the middle class should constitute at least 60% of the total population.
The average retirement pension should be at least three times above the subsistence level.
The party will consistently support the elimination of excessive administrative barriers and work for a reduction in the number of government personnel. It will also considerably toughen its anti-monopoly policy.
Anastasia Pavlikova