President Vladimir Putin discussed the opposition with Valdai Club members and advised U.S. and European experts to try to be objective about relations between the Russian authorities and the opposition.
President Vladimir Putin discussed the opposition with Valdai Club members and advised U.S. and European experts to try to be objective about relations between the Russian authorities and the opposition, said
Alexander Rahr
, senior adviser to the German-Russian Chamber of Foreign Trade, who attended the meeting.
“Regarding the opposition, he [Putin] believes that his and United Russia’s ratings are objectively higher because the authorities are at least doing something, while the opposition must first prove that they are capable of doing something,” Rahr said.
Rahr said that experts asked Putin why he avoided talking with representatives of the middle class who participated in the March protest rallies in Bolotnaya Square during the presidential elections and why he did not get them involved in government.
Putin replied: “I work with those people who act pragmatically and have done something, have achieved something. I don’t want to risk inviting people into power who are not capable of doing anything in this respect and who have not been tested.”
Valdai Club contributor Piotr Dutkiewicz said that the Russian president appeared confident on political issues. “We thought that his answers to our questions about the opposition and protest rallies would be limited to protecting his stance,” Dutkiewicz said. “But he appeared very confident on political matters.”
Professor Dutkiewicz, Director of the Center for Governance and Public Policy at Carleton University, Ottawa, said that Putin hinted that in future the actions of the government and the president would satisfy even those who are currently taking part in the protests. In particular, this could be ensured by opening up the political system to new parties.
The ninth annual conference of the Valdai Club on The Future Is Being Made Today: Scenarios for Russia’s Economic Development was held in St. Petersburg and Moscow from October 21 to 25.
Since its establishment nine years ago, the Valdai Club’s meetings have been attended by over 600 experts from 44 countries.
RIA Novosti
