To President of the Russian Federation
Dmitry Medvedev
The YABLOKO party expresses its concern over the development
of substantial negative trends in the country and society.
According to the recent data published in the Russian media
over 35% of the polled Russian citizens would like their children
to change their citizenship. This is attributed to the fact
that there has been no progress in Russia in terms of freedom
and justice, moreover, independence of the court and the parliament
has been curbed, presidential term has been considerably enlarged,
state-owned electronic media have continued being propaganda
instruments enhancing xenophobia and intolerance in the society
and economic strategy has been replaced by the wait-and-see
policies. A gap between the authority and the citizens has
grown, corruption and bureaucratic arbitrary rule has considerably
increased – power and money have turned into decisive factors.
An outer picture of a relative stability should not deceive
us: it has been achieved by archaic governing methods based
on imitation and propaganda, rather than on solution of problems.
This is connected with deeply-rooted problems of the Russian
government and the society that have emerged many decades
ago and that have been lasting still. In particular, Russia
lacks not only division of powers, but even elementary division
of proxies at power bodies on all the levels.
In our opinion, decisive and urgent measures for drastic
break up of these extremely dangerous trends are required.
We proceed from the fact that Russia needs diversification
of both its economy and politics. This requires a decisive
and at the same time well-balanced and responsible position
of the country’s leadership. Diversification can not be conducted
via paternalistic methods. And the main efforts of the government
should be targeted at encouragement of the legitimate initiatives
of the citizens. It is impossible to amend everything at once.
However, there are important and extremely sensible spheres
of life, where active and well-considered actions could change
the attitudes for the better and socially and politically
mobilize and unite Russia’s citizens.
At the first stage we would offer the following large-scale
measures that would incite trust and interest in the citizens
and simultaneously would allow to conduct active anti-crisis
economic policies.
1. Housing, Roads and Land Political Project
Proceeding from the real political situation and deficit
of time, as well as from what has been already done for the
support of the banking system and the rouble, we propose to
transfer to the extraordinary (as of their scope)
national policies targeted at encouragement of domestic demand.
We should considerably push up the final demand and link it
with the intermediate demand, which would encourage
growth of the whole economy.
Keeping this goal in mind we should begin mass-scale
housing construction under the slogan Housing for Every Family.
Financing of this project should be carried out from all possible
sources from reserve and budget funds. At least 75 per cent
of available (as of August 1, 2009) state resources should
go to this goal. Investments into construction of
housing in the next seven years should exceed over 50 per
cent of all investments into Russia.
The government has the capacity to allot at least 14 trillion
roubles for construction of housing, roads and required infrastructure.
This means approximately 1.8 bln sq m of housing which will
allow for provision of housing for 14 mln families, 130 sq
m of housing per a family on the average.
We also propose to conduct mass-scale transfer of land into
private property under construction of houses (a house per
a family with children), as well as commercial and municipal
apartment blocks. Simultaneously it is necessary to strengthen
legislative property title guarantees for land and real estate,
and cancel legal possibilities for depriving some owners of
such title and transferring it to the other. Raider attacks
and self-willed seizure of lands should be firmly curbed.
The programme envisages change of subsidizing of housing construction,
zoning principles in construction of cities and accelerated
completion of the system of cadastral record keeping.
The programme envisages state investment into provision of
gas, electricity and water supply, construction of roads,
repair of bridges and dams, development of transport infrastructure,
construction of new public facilities and schools.
Investments into construction of housing will help to maintain
the present number of jobs, as well as create new enterprises
ensuring economic growth.
Construction of housing which is of huge social importance
for Russia’s population plays at present the role of the sole
and key potential engine capable of putting the whole national
economy in motion and it is necessary to put it in motion
now.
Strategically the main driving force for Russia’s economy
in the nearest perspective should be comprehensive improvement
of living conditions of the majority of the population, significant
raising of the level of the comfort of living and modern
economic development of our Eastern territories, first of
all, via construction of housing and roads.
The party thinks that Russia has a chance not only to overcome
the crisis, but also to solve a historical task – to improve
living conditions of a multimillion nation and to provide
housing for a considerable number of the needy. The government
promised to solve this problem many times, but today we need
and for the first time in decades have an opportunity to make
economic policies serve the interests of the nation.
Provision of modern houses to the families will become a
decisive factor in changing public attitudes for the better,
will provide real, rather than imaginary, stability and lay
the basis for economic growth and development.
2. Five Steps Toward Curbing Corruption
1). Creation of an inter-party public council of political
parties for systematic anti-corruption amending of the law,
and submitting proposals on the candidates to the key posts
in the law enforcement bodies.
2). Introduction of public control not only over officials’
revenues, but also over their expenditures. In case it is
detected that expenditures exceed the revenues, the official
should be banned from keeping state posts lifelong. Amendments
should be introduced into laws allowing for corruption probes
of the state servants; those failing the probes should be
dismissed.
3). Honest professionals, as well as representatives of the
opposition, who were occupying state posts for quite a long
time in 1990s (including deputies posts) and were not associated
with corrupt practices, did not accumulate personal savings
or wealth, or participated in criminal privatization and creation
of corruption schemes, should be engaged in state and law
enforcement bodies at the key posts.
4). Optimisation of the state apparat structure should be
conducted by means of stuff reduction, the least professional
and industrious workers should be dismissed, and remuneration
and the salary part in the total pay for the rest should be
raised.
5) Introduction of the system which would allow to the citizens
to safely report on the facts of blackmailing on behalf of
the officials and their way of life demonstrating revenues
considerably exceeding their official salaries, but at the
same time it should not be used for libel, score-settling
and paralisation of work of the officials.
3. Protection of Social and Economic Rights of the
Citizens
Aiming at protection of economic and social rights of the
citizens, as well as reduction of pressure on the economy
during the crisis we should adopt a law on transparency of
tariffs of natural monopolies that should be deprived of the
immunity they get under the law on the state secret – together
with other organisations recipients of the state aid, obliging
them to publish regular financial reports on their current
performance in the Internet. The text of the draft law is
enclosed herein.
The share of small and medium-scale businesses controlling
income generating property should be increased. This
requires focusing of attention on property support of small-scale
business, announcing a “small-scale privatization” campaign.
To this end a number of present laws should get direct action
(for example, law ¹ 159-FZ), abolishing mediation of regional
authorities: preferential terms of privatization should spread
onto land plots, a network of “people’s markets” controlled
by communities of small business entities rather than individual
owners should be established; leasehold rights should be stable;
easier transfer to simplified fiscal regimes should be ensured.
A provisional commission composed out of representatives
of different parties and public circles should be established
for administrative examination of claims and complaints of
the citizens on unlawful actions of state officials and agencies
referring to property and social rights of the citizens.
A Concept of family policy of the Russian Federation for
the period until 2025 targeted at considerable improvement
and increase of accessibility of education, family medicine,
children’s pre-school institutions, overcoming of homelessness
among children and violence against children should be adopted.
National Public Council for modernization and development
of infrastructure of the country should be created for protection
of the country’s unity. Consensus of political forces and
regions in the issues of infrastructure development within
the framework of a single minimum standard is required. Results
here are extremely important for overcoming stagnation and
prevention of strategically dangerous recessions.
We also think that serious changes in foreign and
domestic policies of the Russian state are required. Modernisation
of Russia is incompatible with comprehensive increase of paternalism,
reactionary “Eurasian” ideology, it is possible only within
the framework of the European way of development of Russia.
Appendices:
Housing, Roads, Land
Further Anti-Corruption Measures
On Measures for Provision of Transparency and Reduction of
Growth of Tariffs of Natural Monopolies
Support of small and medium-scale business
Mass-scale violations of human rights
Decision of YABLOKO’s Political Committee “On Russia’s Foreign
Policies”
Children’s Rights
Sincerely,
Sergei Mitrokhin,
Chairman, the YABLOKO party,
Sergei Ivanenko,
member of the Political Committee, the YABLOKO party,
Grigory Yavlinsky,
member of the Political Committee, the YABLOKO party
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