Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for reforms to Russia's political system in an attempt to appease protesters who recently staged the biggest protest since current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin came to power.
Addressing the parliament, Medvedev proposed, among other things, the re-election of the governor in direct elections, the simplification of the party registration procedure, the reduction of the number of voter signatures necessary to participate in the presidential elections, as well as the change of the electoral system in the Duma elections, by introducing a proportional system in 225 districts.
His opponents, who are preparing new protests across Russia on Saturday, with around 200.000 people expected, dismissed the offer as empty promises by the interim president who will step down so Putin can return to the Kremlin next year, Reuters reported.
"Today, in the new phase of the development of our country, supporting the initiative of Prime Minister Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, I propose comprehensive reforms of our political system," Medvedev said.
"I want to say that I listen to those who say that changes are needed and I understand them. We should give all active citizens a legal chance to participate in political life."
Opposition: Just empty words
Medvedev also called for the creation of an independent "public" television channel.
The moves were intended to respond to calls for change by tens of thousands of protesters who have been protesting since December 4 over election irregularities, but Medvedev and Putin ignored the main demand - re-run elections.
The opposition evaluated the offer as more empty words from a man who has failed to implement his promises since Putin brought him to the presidency.
The co-president of the People's Freedom Party (PARNAS) Vladimir Riuzkov said that Medvedev proposed only half measures.
The opposition evaluated the offer as more empty words from a man who has failed to implement his promises since Putin brought him to the presidency.
Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov expressed doubt that Medvedev would be able to implement his plans.
"You will see that Putin's team will not allow any of that. "They have already set the task for Putin to win the presidential elections with 60 percent of the votes, and that, as the parliamentary elections have shown, is impossible," Zyuganov told reporters.
The authorities are changing their rhetoric
Analysts interpret the president's speech differently.
Elena Panfilova from Transparency International believes that the proposal is the result of mass pressure from citizens.
"Protests are the only reason why the authorities have dramatically changed their rhetoric. Nothing would have changed if the protests had not happened," said Panfilova.
The director of the International Institute for Political Analysis Alexei Mukhin, however, claims that Medvedev's speech was in fact addressed to Putin.
"Protests are the only reason why the authorities have dramatically changed their rhetoric. Nothing would have changed if the protests had not happened," said Panfilova.
Maria Lipman from the Moscow Carnegie Center believes that "it is absurd that the president who has already given up his legitimate right to participate in the election race talks about his vision and plans for the development of Russia and its democratization in the next 10 years."
"Faced with mass protests and a drop in popularity, the leadership realizes that maintaining the status quo is no longer an option and that if the status quo is not to be, they have two options - either to intensify the repression or to open up, and the protests have shown that there is no indication that the government is ready to repression", assessed Lipmanova.
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