Senator Nikolai Fyodorov will draft the election programme for the Popular Front. Izvestia wanted to learn why the former president of Chuvashia, who has never drafted any programme party documents, was charged with this mission.
The Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (ISEPS) will become a platform for elaborating this document. United Russia leader Vladimir Putin has suggested that Fyodorov should head an agency that is being formed for this and other purposes. "This agency should not be big and should be narrowly focused," the prime minister emphasized. "I would appreciate if this work is accompanied by an analysis of incoming proposals, including those on the drafting of the election programme that the Popular Front and the United Russia will use next December." The senator said it was a responsible mission and agreed to it.
Why, out of a large pool of candidates, was Fyodorov chosen to head this mission? Izvestia sources close to the Popular Front quoted several reasons. First, Fyodorov has amassed an impressive work experience in the regions and the Popular Front will have to rely more on the regions than the federal centre. This is why the future programme must take into account specific regional features. Therefore, the man who was a successful president of Chuvashia for 16 years appears to be a good candidate.
The opinion of Chief of Staff of the Government Executive Officef Vyacheslav Volodin was a much more important argument in his favour. When Fyodorov left the presidential position last summer, Secretary of the United Russia Presidium Volodin said that Fyodorov must work at federal level. Instead of just an honorary resignation Fyodorov received the promise of a real job. A year later this job came around, largely owing to Volodin.
And, finally, the third reason lies not only in the senator's professional qualities but also in his image. The critics of the Popular Front emphasise that, according to them, it is a "corporate agency" that may weaken a multi-party system. But Fyodorov is a democrat by nature and should not raise any objections from the majority of political forces. In other words, he can act as a link between the ruling party and the opposition.
All that being said, Fyodorov has not compiled any programme party documents before. However, in the past "his" Chuvashia often became an experimental shop for numerous projects. Thus, the Unified State Exam and the electronic government were launched in Cheboksary. Chuvashia became the first republic to supply every village with gas. So, Fyodorov is good at implementing new projects.
The senator already has an idea for the future programme. "We have no right to offer populist, unjustified, and unrealistic measures of resolving problems. Our responsibility is too high for that," Fyodorov told Vesti Nedeli. "The Popular Front's mission is to overcome poverty. We must also make people feel safe," he summed up.
Mikhail Kharlamov
2nd federal issue