OREANDA-NEWS. October 19, 2012. Vladimir Putin and core members of the Russian Popular Front discussed the municipal and regional elections held on October 14 and the organisation's future development.

The Russian Popular Front was established on Vladimir Putin's initiative in 2011 as a voluntary association of public organisations, political parties and members of the public. One of the Front’s goals is to create a new opportunity for civil society to take an active part in the Government's most important decisions.

* * *

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, friends, colleagues,

I am very pleased that we have such a representative gathering today, including members of various public organisations, trade unions, political parties and youth movements.

During the presidential election campaign and immediately afterwards we said that we must continue our efforts. There were many discussions about the objectives the RPF was created to pursue and whether it is just a campaign tool. Indeed, it did serve as a political campaign tool, but that was not its only purpose. My original understanding was that if we succeed in creating a broad public coalition, and that is exactly what the Popular Front has become, then it would simply be wrong and wasteful not to let it get involved in social processes. In fact, everything that has been done in Moscow and around the country was achieved with the direct involvement of work teams, the people, our citizens, and it is a very good feedback tool that lets us know what is being done and how successfully in different parts of the country.

To begin with, I want to thank you: many of you present here took an active part in the preparation of the national development programme. You may have noticed that my first executive orders as President of the Russian Federation dated May 7, 2012 deal with many issues that you formulated. They are all identified there, and not just identified but the executive orders set the deadlines and outline the means we will use to address the challenges facing our country.

This prompts a very simple and logical conclusion: if the people represented in the Russian Popular Front formulated the national development programme, then you should have the opportunity to oversee how the targets you have set are being met. This is a very important part of any political initiative, and so, as we agreed, I suggested that we meet to discuss what we can do in the future and in what format.

The first task, which I talked about in the past and would like to go back to now, is control over the execution. The tasks themselves have been formalised in the plans and specific documents, including the Presidential executive orders, but we are all adults here – some of us are older, some younger, but we are all adults – and we understand that life is full of problems and surprises, and there is always need for adjustments. Therefore, as we implement any initiative, tackle any challenge facing the nation, there are always some details that we must respond to quickly but efficiently and competently.

Therefore, the second task, which is directly linked to the first one, is to respond to everything that happens in real life, so that we can quickly make amendments, perhaps even change our plans and priorities.

Many of you asked at our previous meetings: What should be the format of the Popular Front’s work? Some colleagues suggested that we should establish a political party, but I said that perhaps it may become an option in the future but at this point it would limit the scope of our activities. Why? Because if the Russia Popular Front is a broad public coalition, then as soon as we establish a political party, the scope of its activities will be limited. Right now the Russian Popular Front can involve various public organisations in its work, including different parties, not only United Russia or Patriots of Russia but any political parties that share our views on national development.

This will make the organisation more vibrant, because when it includes people who share strategic objectives but have different ideas about how to achieve these goals, it allows you to launch a discussion on any vital issue, and that creates an opportunity to find the most effective solutions to the challenges faced by our country.

Therefore, I would like to suggest that you hold a founding congress and establish the nationwide public organisation Russian Popular Front, which will involve public organisations, political parties and private individuals in its activities. Don’t put it off for too long; you should hold the congress sometime in the next few months – it would probably be best to do it in the spring.

I propose that we consider this together today.

I will finish my monologue so that we can talk informally about any issues that may arise. Go ahead, please.