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Friday, 19.10.2007
TV question and answer session: The answer is continuity
Christian Jahn, Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin portrayed himself as a strong reformer during his annual live question and answer session. He argued that Russia now needs continuation of his policies.
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Russia’s citizenry peppered their President with questions yet again. The special call centre had recorded 2.2 million questions at start of broadcast!
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Putin took three hours to give his focused and detailed answers. He outlined the reforms he had launched and his strategic goals for the economy, and for social and foreign policy, and for the military.
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The wrong people in power
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The president made his point of view clear: Russia, 15 years after the end of the Soviet Union, now needs stability and continuity. Not least because not only targets have been fixed in advance, but also most of the state budget for the next few years. “Imagine people come to power who don’t keep to the plans. It would be so easy for them to meddle,“ he said, referring to the chaos of the Soviet collapse and ensuing corruption.
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Asks to be taken on trust
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To guarantee this stability and continuity, Putin will climb into the ring himself during the parliamentary elections. He recently agreed to top the United Russia list of candidate at the United Russia party conference.
One member of the public from Kazan questioned how this could comply with the spirit of the constitution, which, he said, seems to bar a president from belonging to a party.
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There can be no question: Vladimir Putin has done a lot for his country and citizens. They love him. However: he demands that both they and Russia’s foreign partners take a large amount from him on trust.
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In general, we are inclined to accord him this trust. All it takes is to compare Russia now with the Russia of only a few years ago.
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(cj/.rufo/Moskau)
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