For the first time since being appointed Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin gave clear explanations on domestic policy issues, defending the political system he had created.
On Friday, the Kremlin hosted the first public discussion of the state of the political system in Russia's contemporary history. The main surprise was that Vladimir Putin attended. He not only employed Dmitry Medvedev's favourite trick of commenting on other speakers' words, but also explained to United Russia representatives how and in what direction the political process would develop. When he took his office in the government, Vladimir Putin began abstaining from giving political evaluations and taking part in political debates in the Kremlin, making Friday a rare performance.
Vladimir Putin countered allegations that United Russia is a party of big business and the elite as well as accusations of mass electoral falsifications. He went on to say that changes should be introduced with extreme caution, not allowing the political culture to follow a Ukrainian scenario or slide into totalitarianism. A political system should not tremble like jelly to the touch, he said.
A member of the State Council said that nobody expected Vladimir Putin to take part in the session. The government simply requested the session's materials for information earlier that week, but the Prime Minister's participation was not announced until the day of the session. Two members of United Russia said that there was a meeting with Vladimir Putin scheduled for one of those days to discuss a question that was usually addressed to the President: whom to nominate for the Krasnoyarsk Territory's governor's office.
The Prime Minister's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that the meeting with United Russia representatives was not scheduled yet and that Vladimir Putin's participation in the State Council's session was planned from the beginning but simply unannounced. He is the second leader of the country and his participation in a meeting to discuss such important issues was reasonable. Besides, the meeting dealt with the political system that was formed during the eight years of Putin's presidency, and it would be strange if he did not take part in it. Dmitry Peskov concluded that nonetheless, the head of state was the one to draw ultimate conclusions.
Dmitry Medvedev unusually abstained from commenting on other speakers' words. He only chided the opposition for being inactive at the municipal level, urged them to restrain from unfounded accusations against the electoral system and wondered why there were so many legislative assemblies with only one or two factions. Governors should make sure that the party representation corresponds to the voters' preferences and should constantly be in touch with all parties, the media and public organizations, he said. He added that this would be the key factor in reappointing governors.
Political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov believes that the Prime Minister defended the system that he created to make it clear that he would not let it be dismantled. This only escalates the intrigue around the 2012 election.
By Natalia Kostenko