Kommersant: “General public free to join Popular Front”
The decision was made upon Putin's initiative, as he hopes to provide the public with better access to the authorities.
Deputy Prime Minister Vyacheslav Volodin, who is in charge of the front's campaign headquarters, met with the activists of the Delovaya Rossiya organisation and admitted that the pro-Kremlin United Russia party faces serious problems in some regions in the run-up to the State Duma elections during an intercom conference involving United Russia representatives.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesperson, told the paper that the prime minister decided to admit the general public after individuals unaffiliated with public organisations began contacting him, hoping to join the front and participate in governance. Prospective members should fill out a questionnaire addressed to Putin, confirming that they share the front's tasks and guidelines.
"We will receive a precise amount of people supporting the front," Peskov said. In his words, there are no plans to show the front is something large because the line-up of member-organisations speaks for itself.
Meanwhile, a source at the front's headquarters said individuals without Internet access can join the front at Putin's public reception offices.
The front's members will also be listed online.
The organisational stage of establishing the front is almost complete.
On Friday, Volodin visited United Russia's office on Banny Lane in Moscow and attended an intercom conference assessing the work of the front's regional coordinating councils.
Volodin, who was promoted to deputy prime minister in October, resigned as the secretary of the Presidium of United Russia's General Council. Since then, he has avoided public involvement in its work and has only attended regional partisan conferences together with Putin.
Sergei Neverov, the acting secretary of the presidium, explained that Volodin attended the intercom conference as the chief of the front's campaign headquarters.
A source among the front's leaders noted that subsequent intercom conferences will be held in the front's office after telecommunications networks are installed.
United Russia members noted Volodin's tough-worded speech. He criticised the work of regional chapters unable to perform in the elections.
"You must work, if you have received 30% of the seats in regional legislatures," he was quoted as saying by United Russia members. "You must accept assistance if you are unable to do this on your own." They explained that this implied the need for close cooperation with the front. The deputy prime minister stressed that regional governors, their deputies and legislature speakers in charge of partisan chapters must assume double and triple responsibility.
Volodin listed some problematic regions during the intercom conference and at his meeting with Delovaya Rossiya activists, including Kirov, Orenburg, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Sakhalin, Tomsk, Irkutsk, Volgograd, Leningrad, Astrakhan, Kursk and Tver regions.
Neverov said Volodin noted a number of regions which, in his opinion, work ineffectively with public organisations. This leads to setbacks during elections, he said. The deputy prime minister cited national republics as a positive example of cooperation between United Russia and the public.
"If you think that the republics achieve results because someone is doing something there, then this is not so," he said. "Local elders deal with the people there." The front's members have already complained about United Russia members facilitating red tape.
Consequently, Volodin told the secretaries of regional chapters that they are equal parties to the process and they should not think of themselves as bosses. Effective cooperation can produce entirely different results, Volodin stressed.
The deputy prime minister made similar statements at a meeting with the regional business elite, a part of Delovaya Rossiya.
Tatiana Marchenko, the organisation's vice president, said Volodin stated that the primaries to select candidates for the United Russia ticket will be held on the basis of equal opportunities for the front's participants.
"If a Delovaya Rossiya candidate is more efficient than a United Russia candidate, then he will be supported," she said.
Marchenko also quoted Volodin as saying that, on the one hand, incumbent State Duma deputies will find it easier to win the primaries as they have badges but, on the other hand, it will be harder because their responsibility will be greater.
The relevant regulations on holding United Russia's primaries were scheduled for drafting in late May. The document was initially prepared by a partisan group headed by Valery Ryazansky, the deputy secretary of the presidium.
They started drafting new regulations for the primaries after the front was established. A source at the front's headquarters said Boris Gryzlov, the head of United Russia's Supreme Council, will report on this issue at a meeting of the Coordinating Council, and Neverov had already drafted the regulations.
Addressing businessmen, Volodin stressed that United Russia is expected to facilitate its own soft renovation through the involvement of new forces, including Delovaya Rossiya.
On Saturday, businessmen commented on Volodin's speech at the Kre@tovo innovation centre owned by Alexander Levchenko, a member of the Delovaya Rossiya General Council who has joined the front's coordinating councils in Moscow and the Moscow Region.
Notably, the businessmen held their own primaries and simulated State Duma elections. The voters were asked to choose between United Russia or the opposition and to substantiate their choice.
The voters noted the front's chances due to the high ratings of United Russia's leader, their administrative resources, the disunited opposition and the people's love for all free things and freebies. The latter two factors imply the government's welfare policy. Those opposing the front noted rising protests, intra-partisan disagreements, calamities and the assistance of external opponents that treat United Russia with scepticism.
"The score was 7:7, and we intend to hold our primaries each Saturday," Levchenko promised. "We will see whether the chances will change prior to the nomination of candidates."
Maria-Louisa Tirmaste
