The first vice-president of the Government of Russia Dmitry Medvedev
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Medvedev Speaks at Civic Forum
First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has stated that his main goal is the continuation of peaceful and stable development in Russia. “Decades of normal life and purposeful work are needed,” he said today at the Civic Forum, sponsored by the Public Chamber, in Moscow. He said that a program for the country's development through 2020 is now being prepared under the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Every nation should have a set of understandable principles and goals that unite the people living in the country,” Medvedev said. “We must join our national traditions with the fundamental set of democratic values.” He noted that civil society is an important part of Russia's political life today.
The first deputy prime minister said that combating corruption in government organs should be a national program. He also mentioned housing and pensions. “We have to do something so that retirement is no longer associated with the end of life,” he said.
In addition, Medvedev said that Russian authorities will hold a “firm course” toward the development of the market economy, free enterprise and strong property rights. The development of human capital, he said, would have a key role in social and economic policy. “We will invest in the intellect and in people's creative energy,” he said.
Russia will develop as a civil society with a representative democracy, Medvedev said. The authorities are responsible before their citizens, he said, and their relations should be based on a social contract. The reform of the parliamentary election system in Russia has made a great contribution to the development of its representative democracy, he stated. Before, a third of votes were cast for parties that could not overcome the minimum support barrier to receive seats, he observed.
Today's speech was expected to be “programmatic” for Medvedev's presidential campaign. Members of nonprofit organizations, the public councils attached to federal agencies and federal and local officials were in attendance.
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