Izvestia: "United Russia members instructed to share authority"
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held another United Russia regional conference in Yekaterinburg. Members of the rapidly-formed Popular Front took part in the meeting for the first time. Of those who attended, there were as many representing the Popular Front as there were United Russia members.
The atmosphere among the delegates was tense. Putin had previously promised the front's members half of the seats in the ruling party's election list. This time he urged United Russia members to share authority with the front's participants and allow them to take part in forming regional budgets.
"The ruling party is growing accustomed to power and is becoming less sensitive to people's problems. Prolonged dominance can become detrimental. It may seem like leadership has somehow been bestowed from above forever, but this is not the case," Putin said.
There was silence in the hall. Only a few members of the front were smiling.
"United Russia should be glad to welcome new people into its ranks. The more democracy and competition within the party the greater its credibility in society," Putin said.
Putin also upbraided the leaders of organisations that are too active in trying to join the front as soon as possible. He also warned against registering other people without their knowledge. There were a few of such cases on the eve of the conference. At first, the Architects' Union expressed its indignation, followed by the Composers' Union. Both unions found themselves among the new members on the front's website. Their official renunciation of membership was registered at plenary sessions.
"I am opposed to people joining the front in order to conform with certain quotas or bureaucratic laws. There is no point in artificially increasing the number of participants. People should join the front by their own free will rather than someone's instructions. This will help us expand the public base for decision-making at different levels," Putin explained.
The active discussion of proposals for the People's Programme concluded with a question from Nikolai, a businessman from the Urals. He asked Putin about what his first step would be after the presidential elections on March 11, 2012. Putin replied: "I'll go wash up my face -- in the hygienic and not the political sense, of course. After everything we will have to go through, this is going to be necessary."
Putin then spoke about the economy of the Urals. He praised its achievements in oil and gas production, but criticised it for inadequate processing. The companies of the Urals Federal District process only 2% of raw materials, a figure that does not conform with economic diversification plans.
However, the district is interested in innovation. Putin said that a review of 800 projects that were sent to the website of the Strategic Initiatives Agency showed that a third of them came from the Sverdlovsk Region. For this reason, the agency will launch its first regional office in Yekaterinburg. According to the plan, it will start working in August. The prime minister promised to name the agency's new leader in the last third of July. The nominee will be chosen based on the results of a contest.
By Anastasia Novikova
