In the next two years, United Russia (UR) leader Vladimir Putin is more likely to behave as a party member in order to enhance UR prestige on the road to the presidential elections.
Arguing with Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin over the increase in pension expenses last Thursday, Prime Minister Putin held to the party line: "When the budget was adopted, deputies of the State Duma, primarily from the UR, perceived this document as a compromise. In other words, the UR agreed to reduce several items of the budget and now expects the Finance Ministry to reciprocate," he said.
Last Tuesday, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that the UR will hold eight conferences (instead of congresses) in the federal districts. Putin will chair them and use the opportunity to speak with regional elites.
Putin also had or simply wished to head the party's programme "Clean Water." He insisted on the format of a government programme which requires some laws to be changed in a hurry.
Now Putin is starting to directly position himself as the UR leader. Political analysts mark this as the start of the 2012 presidential campaign, because a strong ruling party will be required in any scenario, regardless of whether Putin or Dmitry Medvedev, or both, run for the presidency. It will also serve as an electoral instrument – for instance, legislatively – to enhance the legitimacy of a candidate while providing political life insurance for the departing member of the tandem.
The question is what Putin can do with the UR and how effective his adjustment effort will be. The party is quite flexible – the replacement of congresses with conferences points to the absence of rigid rules and traditions. But the party's performance is highly intensive. The funding of the strange and costly "Clean Water" programme, for instance, was reduced, but it will still receive special government status. Moreover, it is difficult to control what other party members say; Boris Gryzlov, for one, has recently called any attack against the UR a blow to the government.
Tying himself closer to the party's contradictory image, Putin takes reputational risks, but in Russia, that always means less than the absence of resources.