Dmitry Medvedev has been appointed Prime Minister of the new Russian government. A decree was signed by the President immediately after the State Duma gave Putin their consent to the appointment of Medvedev as the head of the Cabinet of Ministers. 374 deputies voted in favor of Medvedev’s candidacy and 56 voted against. There were no abstentions. Today, the head of state endorsed his candidate personally.
Pavel Zarubin is reporting on a conversation between Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev and the Cabinet.
The State Duma Assembly Hall: although journalists typically don't work here, our reporters have this rare opportunity today. The State Duma is considering Dmitry Medvedev's candidacy for the post of Prime Minister. After deputies have consulted with Medvedev and learned whom he proposes as vice-premiers, they are discussing and arguing — is the desired breakthrough possible?
Sergey Neverov: "A breakthrough is possible if we all work together".
Gennady Zyuganov: "Given the economic course that is being proposed, this task is infeasible".
Putin and Medvedev are going along with Volodin to the meeting of the State Duma. There have never been so many people gathered at the hall entrance. Today, there is excitement in the State Duma — the ladder and corridors are filled with visitors; they are applauding the members of the government. Putin personally endorsed Medvedev for the post of Prime Minister. He recalled what has been going on in world politics and economics.
President Putin: "It was especially acute for our country, sometimes it even seemed dramatic, but despite these challenges, the government was able to solve extraordinary, urgent tasks as well as indicate and preserve our country's development vectors and constantly build up these opportunities. This large-scale, complex work was conducted thoroughly, professionally and with integrity, without pursuing any short-term political outcomes. The work was done responsibly and it is long-term oriented".
Today, Russia is facing new challenges which were outlined by Putin in his decree: technological breakthrough, social breakthrough, large-scale modernization of medicine, the increase of life expectancy and people's incomes, the increase of construction volumes.
President Putin: "We don't have time to postpone, we must act. In this regard, I think it's extremely important to note and say the following: over the past 1.5 years, Dmitry Anatolyevich and some members of the government worked on the program, which I outlined in the decree that I signed yesterday. I consider this quite logical that this team implements these plans".
Medvedev announces the amount of money that will be needed to accomplish the tasks.
Dmitry Medvedev: "About 25 trillion rubles. That is, we will need to add at least 8 trillion rubles to the amount of money proposed earlier".
According to Putin, the announced figures are not just good wishes. Everything has been calculated and verified.
President Putin: "I'll tell you a secret — we argued until the day before yesterday. That is, I want to assure you, dear colleagues, that this is not just chatter and words. We calculated everything. I don't know how the government will get it in the course of practical realization, but I hope that everything will turn out the way we have planned. Overall, it should be a systematic, strategic work".
Each faction could ask the prospective Prime Minister two questions. The answers became breaking news. For example, regarding the retirement age.
Yaroslav Nilov, Deputy of the State Duma: "Is the new Cabinet planning steps to address this issue? If yes, what are they and what is the time frame?"
Dmitry Medvedev: "It's a direct, frank conversation. We need to make decisions about the retirement age but, the decisions must be careful, weighed and based on a person's readiness to continue working, the strength and health they possess. The government will soon prepare its proposals and submit them to the State Duma".
The answer to the question regarding the income tax rate also became breaking news.
Dmitry Medvedev: "The government is currently preparing no decisions regarding personal income tax".
A Just Russia used one of its questions in order to voice its political initiatives.
Sergey Mironov: "We propose that the Chairman suspends membership in the party upon their assumption of office. What do you think about it?"
Dmitry Medvedev: "I take a negative view of this idea. In most countries of the world, party leaders take part in government's formation to some extent. There is nothing seditious about this".
According to the parliamentary regulations, the leaders of each faction give a short speech expressing their assessment of the proposed candidature of the prime minister. Today, a lot was addressed to both Medvedev and Putin, who endorsed his candidacy. The Communist Party leader compared the Russian economy, which, according to him, is unsuccessful with the successes of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Gennady Zyuganov: "Only such a party could build the great united state in place of a broken empire; only the Soviet government could ensure victory over fascism, when all of Europe raised a white flag; only the USSR could create nuclear missile parities, the first to break into space".
President Putin: "Mr.Zyuganov did not mention only one thing: under the keen leadership of the Communist Party, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Of course, there is nothing to be happy about; whether it's good or bad — this is a historical fact. Nobody, except the Communist Party, whose role was enshrined even in the Constitution of the Soviet Union, was among the leaders of this process. While other parties were around, the CPSU was the leader and in fact, the leaders of the CPSU engendered this historic event, which I'll refrain from commenting".
Vladimir Zhirinovsky spoke after Zyuganov as a matter of tradition. He never heard from the head of the Communist Party, whether he was in favor of Medvedev's candidacy. It got noisy in the Hall.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky: "Shh, this is my time to talk, I didn't comment while you were speaking. The last presidential decree proposes that we should join the top five of the world's economies. We actually were among them 100 years ago, under Tsar Nicholas II, but they overthrew him. All the statistic indicators prove it. Again they make noise! They have made noise for 100 years; only noise from them. They have already been banned, expelled, but there is nothing good from them".
Delving into history gave way to arguments about attempts to break Russia's relations with the countries that have been historically linked to it.
Leonid Kalashnikov: "Be it Ukraine, Moldova, or Armenia — they are always being torn away from us. The goals of integration, mentioned by the President yesterday, have to do with the force that is not being financed sufficiently".
President Putin: "Nobody took anything away. We let the Soviet Union fall apart, we did it ourselves. You know, it's like with a divorce: a couple separated, but one of them says, you will live by my rules! It doesn't work like that. You must understand this, and regard these countries as sovereign states".
Putin emphasized, that it is necessary to build equal and beneficial relations with these countries as well as with other foreign countries. Although the West is claiming some kind of isolation of Russia, Russia is not going isolate itself for sure.
President Putin: "If we close ourselves up and salt ourselves like cucumbers in a barrel, nothing good will come of it. Only cucumbers will become more delicious, although something will need to be added, as experts say. Therefore, we should not engage in self-isolation in any way. We are fighting, let's say, for the Chinese pork market, and now some steps are being taken in this direction, especially if the Chinese start to compete with the Americans and ban the American pork import, then here we go with our own pigs".
Such expansion to foreign markets becomes possible due to sharp growth of agriculture. This is only one of the achievements that the former cabinet of ministers can be accredited for.
Sergei Neverov: "Life expectancy has increased, mortality, including infant and child mortality, has decreased The volume of high-tech medical care has doubled over 678,000 families have moved to new apartments from emergency housing".
United Russia and the LDPR expressed support for Medvedev's candidacy, while the Communist Party and A Just Russia were against.
Sergei Mironov: "As a result of the work of the government, we see the deepening and strengthening of social inequality in our country, we see that the gap between very rich people and poor people is growing, the number of the poor hasn't decreased, unfortunately".
President Putin: "It has decreased. But it has decreased at a pace that is insufficient for us. Therefore, one of the main tasks of the government is to target this poverty, fight it and defeat it; and to defeat other problems that we are facing, and solve the tasks of global, capital breakthrough development of our Fatherland, our beloved country of Russia".
The poll results demonstrated that the number of supporters of the candidature endorsed by Putin was more than six times higher than the number of opponents.
Vyacheslav Volodin: "374 voters are in favor, 56 are against, no abstentions, The total of 433 deputies voted".
Based on such accelerated pace, the new Russian government will be formed in the next few days.
Pavel Zarubin, Anton Kosimovich, Ekaterina Galkina, Aleksandra Terpugova, Natalia Gubina, Vesti
