Rossiiskaya Gazeta: "A call to action: party life"
United Russia grooms three more governors.
Last Friday, United Russia was discussing the best way to help the President to choose three more heads of regions: in Tatarstan, the Saratov Region and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.
The leaders of United Russia conferred with first deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Vladislav Surkov to discuss the candidates for governor. As the party which commands a majority in all the regional parliaments, United Russia has perfected a mechanism of selecting persons. The President has already picked two names from the party lists: Alexander Misharin has been inaugurated as governor of the Sverdlovsk Region and Alexander Zhilkin is shortly to become the head of the Astrakhan Region.
Boris Gryzlov, while recognizing the responsibility of his party, left it to the President to make the final decision. There may be more to this than meets the eye: the selection of a proper person for strife-torn Saratov Region, or the donor region of Yamal or Tatarstan, is a very delicate matter.
Also last Friday, three United Russia clubs gathered in Moscow to discuss the message of Putin's four-hour phone-in programme that was broadcast by federal channels on Thursday. The man in charge of clubs, deputy secretary of the presidium of the party's general council, Yuri Shuvalov, believes that United Russia's regional party organizations "can take under control and solve" the problems of healthcare, employment (especially in mono-cities), housing construction and relief to the victims of the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant accident.
"The responsibility rests with us, United Russia members, the party should have the final say in making decisions regarding the regions and municipalities, which is where real life is happening and where these problems are manifested most of all." The coordinator of the patriotic club Irina Yarova has Putin's words about responsibility etched on her memory.
One of the founders of the liberal-conservative club, Vladimir Pligin, singles out Putin's remarks about history. "The assessment of Stalin can be seen as a step towards achieving social consensus," according to Pligin. "In my opinion, it is very important that Putin described as inadmissible such methods of running the state, the method of achieving results that involves massive crimes against the people." He also likened the Prime Minister's words to the effect that it is necessary to stop talking about an average individual. It means, according to Pligin, that "modernisation is staked on the active individual."
"Vladimir Putin has given us an object lesson: one shouldn't see only the dark side, one shouldn't tar all policemen with a black brush or condemn all bureaucrats as a class. Putin said that while he criticised his subordinates in conferences he also felt it necessary to publicly thank them for their good work. This is a very important signal to society," says Olga Kryshtanovskaya of the RAS Sociology Institute's Sector for the Study of Elites who attended the club meeting. She noted the large number of young people who were sitting in the studio: "the authorities have reached out to young people and the youth is listening, asking questions, their eyes shine; it is necessary to scout for young talent capable of taking part in discussing the pressing issues facing the country." This is what United Russia clubs are for.
Moscow issue, Alexander Mikhailov
