President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Dear colleagues, I would like to welcome you, congratulate you on the New Year, and wish you all success in your work this year.
We agreed to meet regularly to talk and discuss topical issues, political problems, the national economy, and that is what we are here to do today. The only thing I regret is that I didn't give you warning that this would be an informal meeting, instead, I see you are all still wearing your ties.
Deputy Head of the State Duma, Leader of the Ldpr, Vladimir Zhirinovsky (loosening his tie): I hesitated.
Dmitry Medvedev: That's a step in the right direction, Vladimir Volfovich (laughter).
That's why now, having dismissed journalists – our respected colleagues from the media, let us remove our ties, if no one objects that is, because after all we did agree to meet informally.
I will run through the agenda briefly. It's not set in stone by any means, and we can discuss anything we please. First of all, I would like to thank you for the fact that we are now working together on those initiatives that I formulated in my address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, initiatives which are aimed at refining our political system and developing democracy in our country. And to that end there are a series of laws which have already been passed by the State Duma and the Federation Council, in addition to those laws which will be passed soon.
I will briefly mention a few of them. One is the law on the new procedure for forming the Federation Council, which will not come into force immediately, but nonetheless that period of time stipulated by the law is vital if we are to ensure that this process is as uncomplicated and as effective as possible, so that we get (in my view and I think you would concur) a new, more developed formation procedure for the Federation Council, as this country's upper house or chamber of regions.
Another important draft law affects the granting of powers to the heads of the Russian federal subjects. This is also a procedure, which we discussed last time we met, and which, it seems to me, to a significantly greater extent corresponds to democratic principles. I mean the process of granting power through decisions made by the party that has won regional elections in any of the constituent territories of the Russian Federation. There is no perfect process, but at least it is no longer something that happens behind the scenes between those in the know. If a party wins a majority, whatever that party might happen to be called, it has the right to propose its candidate for confirmation as regional head.
One more draft law, which is quite new, is one I discussed not long ago with the Presidential Executive Office based on the decisions already taken and on my Address to both chambers. It is the question of the removal of municipal heads from power. This is a theme which I have discussed with the heads of federal subjects and local authorities, on more than one occasion. It is a mechanism we suggest using everywhere in the country to make municipal authorities more efficient. And also so that, at the same time, the process itself of removing local authorities from power (a term chosen to mean stripping a local head of his / her authority) takes place in accordance with the law. Thus inefficient local heads would not be able to remain in office, and could instead be removed from power.
It is these three draft laws which I consider very important. There are others as well which we can consider, including those relating to the refinement of existing procedures.
There is one more subject I suggest we discuss. It is linked to the current economic situation and those decisions that you are making. I would like to thank you all for your constructive work with the Government. Today this is very important. And without that kind of consolidated effort many of the critical decisions relating to instilling order in our economy, counteracting the crisis, and containing the situation in the banking and financial spheres simply could not have been made.
You worked quickly; and despite the fact that those tools which were proposed, those laws which were suggested for your approval were not ideal, nonetheless it was a rapid response to an immediate challenge. And this is highly valued, it is so important in the current situation. I hope that in the future we will continue to work in this manner, that we will cooperate, and, as is natural, argue about this or that financial and economic institution that needs correction, but that we will quickly reach a conclusion. This is something that all countries are dealing with, something all the executive and legislative authorities in most countries suffering because of the crisis, are engaged in.
There is one more question that I suggest we consider. It is not new, but nonetheless it deserves some attention today. You all know better than anyone how laws are passed in this country. The law is passed, then there is a period of months or sometimes years while the subordinate legislation is formulated. That is to say that there is a significant gap between the law itself as the highest instrument of legal authority on the one hand, and the subordinate legislation such as Government bills and executive orders of ministries and departments, on the other hand. This gap must be dramatically reduced.
I am not suggesting anything especially surprising, but I think that we could at some point agree on the fact that the key laws, not all of them because that would be impossible, but in some cases on key legislation those laws should be immediately accompanied by the necessary subordinate legislation. Obviously, this might be subsequently finessed, but it should at least be clear that this is the law and this is the attendant legislation, such as Government, ministerial, and departmental bills. This could improve the situation regarding law making as a whole.
There is of course a host of other matters we could discuss today. I think that we could start with the current external political situation, which is never simple and which is today quite complex. There are regional conflicts, the problems in the Middle East, and problems surrounding Afghanistan, Pakistan, and a host of other issues, which I think we could consider, so that I have a detailed understanding of your position.
That, in brief, is what we can discuss. Please, I ask you to speak your minds.