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You actually gave the opposition a compliment by saying that we need 

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the opposition, including the non-systemic one.

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It is not a compliment – this is what I think. I mean it sincerely.

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By and large, objectively speaking, our opposition, well,

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what we call the opposition, is tame. It is hand-fed.

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No, that is not true. When…

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Systemic. What we call systemic opposition.

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Listen, we have four parliamentary parties.

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Quite often they have their own view of things.

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True, United Russia holds the majority in the State Duma.

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Some may say: you know, it's … a little bit boring.

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Window dressing.

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No. A little bit boring.

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A decoration.

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No. A little bit boring.

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Boring.

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Yes.

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Pretty true.

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Yes, yes.

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Honestly?

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Yes.

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A little bit boring.

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I understand. Do you wish to jump for joy when they may be fighting 

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there like they do in Ukraine or some other place?

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”Not the place for discussions,“ we remember.

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No. It is the place for discussions.

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But it is not a place for brawls or internal skirmishes.

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Or for showing off.

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Well, you sound somewhat too radical –

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either a brawl or a swamp. What about taking some balanced position?

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This is what I am telling you.

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Listen to what Gennady Zyuganov said in his speech.

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Oh!

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What makes you say oh? He has his own stance, and not only he,

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but other members of the Communist Party, too.

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He and Zhirinovsky were philosophizing back when you were 

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working in Dresden.

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It does not matter. It's not important.

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In other words, a professional member of the opposition who lives 

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at a state dacha [residence] belonging to the Administrative 

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Directorate of the President, and drives a BMW with 

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flashing blue lights is fine with you?

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Listen to me.

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Is that so?

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If you wish to remain on the offensive yourself,

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you will not hear my answer.

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I'm listening.

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And this non-systemic opposition –

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what is it? It’s legitimate parties. We have 50 parties altogether.

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We have liberalised the process of registering a political 

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party. We have 50 of them.

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Whether a member of an opposition party uses a car or not 

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is a different question.

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What really matters is what attitude he takes towards the authorities 

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and the decisions proposed by the Government or the ruling 

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party on this or that issue.

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You probably wanted to trip me up… You won't succeed.

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What I want to tell you is this… There is the United Russia 

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party holding the majority.

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Right.

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Right? There are other parties who quite often disagree –

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there are four of them in the parliament.

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They disagree with the ruling party's point of view.

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But you surely remember what there was in the 1990s,

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you are old enough after all. It was a mess of a parliament.

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Brawls were frequent and there was no chance to make a single decision.

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Still worse – do you know what was still worse?

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What?

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It was still worse that the decisions they made were 

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impossible to implement. The economy was boxed into a corner.

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That's what it led to when there was no constructive discussion.

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Now, my question is: Do you want to see them make a mess 

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or make decisions of national importance?

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In this connection, I cannot but recall one well-known Russian 

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statesman: ”You want great upheavals,

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but I want great Russia.

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“ I believe, we all want great Russia,

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not stage shows at different levels of political power.

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Absolutely. The opposition is also necessary to ‘put a hedgehog inside 

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the authorities’ skull’, to make them move and work harder.

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Yes, yes, right. That's why I said that we need both systemic 

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and non-systemic opposition.

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I'm saying so not as Russia's current President,

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but as an ordinary Russian citizen. We don’t need any mess.

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And we don’t need any shows. We need serious political activity.

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You know, if the opposition is non-systemic it immediately,

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almost automatically becomes an enemy of the state.

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Nothing of the sort. Nothing of the sort.

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What makes you think so? Or do you wish to think so yourself? This has 

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nothing to do with the reality. Why? We have 50 parties. Fifty.

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People must simply… You know what? You see, it is necessary…

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People should have an opportunity to express their opinion out loud 

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without any party… They should have this opportunity!

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The political consciousness of Russia's ordinary citizens has grown 

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a lot over the past year. Yes.

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We may watch with pleasure someone's shocking escapades.

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Yes, we may like to see critics exposing somebody.

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But! Even an ordinary citizen wants to see not only somebody criticize 

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the authorities, but to hear and understand what is proposed by those 

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who criticize; what solutions do they propose to the problems 

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the country is faced with? When nothing but criticism is heard 

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in reply, then the question arises: who is worth being voted for? Who 

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is to be elected to the local or regional legislatures 

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or the federal parliament?

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You know, an ordinary citizen goes to work and back home every day.

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And still, a plain sausage will not be enough today 

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for earning people's support.

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I just consider you as a strong person.

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Hope so.

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With a past in the martial arts.

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I still practise today.

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You still practise, even more so.

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Not worth it to underplay – the opponent must be a worthy one.

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An opponent from among those who drive a BMW and reside at a state 

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dacha, who is unlikely to argue with you in earnest.

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Listen to me. Do you think that in any other democratic country,

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including the United States, Congress or Senate members 

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ride a goat to go to work…

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It’s not just about the deputies…

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Or a lame mare? They use state cars there, too.

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It’s not about the cars, really.

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No, this is exactly the matter.

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You have in fact hinted that they are sort of being bribed.

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They use what the state gives them for performing their duties.

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They get it not from the current authorities.

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They get it from the state under the existing law.

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Be it a member of the opposition or not… Once the person takes 

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a certain office, he gets everything the state has to provide him with 

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in accordance with the law.

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For carrying out his duties, including those that person campaigns 

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for and represented and that have propelled him to a certain body 

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of power, to parliament, for example.

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It's not the President who gives him a car. This is important.

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The President and his Administrative Directorate are obliged by law 

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to provide this, regardless of whether he likes this 

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or that deputy or party leader or not.

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It's not about members or their cars…

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That's the whole point.

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This means that the government is obliged to provide everybody with 

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equal opportunities for performing their political functions.

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My focus is rather on the political struggle,

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not specifically on some cars or dachas…

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That's part and parcel of the political struggle.

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The state has to create conditions for an adherent to any views to have 

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an opportunity to work effectively.

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And not to permit a situation when the parliament speaker might say: 

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”Are you from the ruling party? Great. Here's your BMW to move around.

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And everybody else will drive a Zaporozhets [an economical supermini 

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a working man could afford].“ No. Everybody must enjoy equal conditions.