Former TV host Ivan Demidov hopes that the United Russia will not forget to put in a word of the special role of the Russian people in its election campaign.
Photo: Vasily Shaposhnikov
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United Russia Shapes Its Pre-Election National Policy
The United Russia party is set to have national policy issues among its election campaign priorities, a party official said Thursday. The party in power still has to decide whether to include the controversial statement about “the unifying role of the Russian people” in its election program.
Abdul-Khakim Sultygov, the party’s national issues coordinator, said at a roundtable meeting Thursday that the United Russia is drafting a blueprint to become “the act of the civil unity” and promote ethnic and religious diversity in the country. The issue will be widely debated in the Duma election campaign, Mr. Sultygov said.
A Kommersant source in the United Russia’s election staff says the party’s session in September is going decide whether to make this issue a priority in the election campaign.
The Concept of the State National Policy was endorsed in 1996 under President Boris Yeltsin. In 2002, President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to amend the document. The blueprint is still in drafting.
Thursday’s roundtable meeting on national policies pointed to the lack of financing for the program. Moscow Duma Speaker Vladimir Platonov noted that the document should also contain clear guidelines for its enforcement.
The idea of “the unifying role of the Russia people” is clearly a controversial issue. Ivan Demidov, the party’s Russian Project coordinator, is convinced that this point should be included in the program. However, not everyone in the party is so sure about this sensitive and politically charged issue.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 15, 2007
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