Moscow: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday bluntly told ruling United Russia party to stop "bad political habits" and "learn to win fairly", as the democracy is for the expression of popular will.
In his opening remarks at the 11th Congress of United Russia in St. Petersburg today, Medvedev expressed regret that "some" regional branches of the ruling party confine their political activities to "intrigues and games", in an obvious reference to recent regional elections.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin-led United Russia party, controls Parliament and serves as a power base for the premier, who has not ruled out a return to the presidency.
"The elections meant to be the expression of popular will and a competition of ideas and manifestos, sometimes turn out to be a sort of (scandal) stories, when the democratic procedures are substituted by administrative doctoring. There is a need to simply get rid of such people, and by the way, bad political habits also," Medvedev said.
The opposition parties had accused widespread ballot rigging by United Russia, which swept last month's regional elections and had walked out of the Parliament.
"It's necessary to modernize the party, make it more flexible and open," Medvedev said. "You must learn to win in open struggle."
Medvedev, who although was the candidate of the United Russia in the 2008 presidential polls, is not its member, like Putin also, who is the formal chairman of the party.
Like in days of the Soviet Union's ruling Communist party, the country's main political and bureaucratic elite and intellectuals are members of United Russia.
Most of them including Putin and its other leaders and activists in the past have been the members of CPSU and its youth wing Komsomol.
Medvedev reminded the ruling party that the democracy exists for the people and not for the political parties, be it ruling or opposition.
"The democracy exists for the citizens, so that the people could realize their exceptional right to rule their nation, their country, the parties are only instrument, yes, very important, extremely necessary, but only an instrument, a mean but not the goal," he said at the ceremony attended by three thousand delegates and foreign guests, including Indian National Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Rita Bahuguna
Joshi.
Unlike in the days of unchallenged rule of CPSU, when the party congresses were held only in the Kremlin palace, the United Russia party is holding its congress at LenExpo exhibition area, a sort of Pargati Maidan in Putin-Medvedev tandem's home town St. Petersburg.
- PTI
First Published: Saturday, November 21, 2009, 23:43