“Renewal of the political system”: Medvedev explained why the government resigned

Former Prime Minister of Russia, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev explained the reasons for the decision to resign his government.

As the ex-head of the Cabinet said in an interview with Channel One, in this way freedom of decision was ensured for the president, who announced on the eve of his intentions to modernize the political system in the country.

Medvedev explained that he met with Vladimir Putin after his speech with a message to the Federal Assembly on January 15. The ex-prime minister noted that this document "outlines such ambitious tasks to update the political system, to a certain extent, even to change the balance of power in the country." His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.

“This applies to both the government and parliament, partly the president, and the judicial system, in order to make all these decisions, the president must be absolutely free to discuss and take them without regard to any other factors. Including the factor of the government, ”Medvedev said.

The ex-prime minister drew attention to the fact that he led the Russian government for eight years, calling this time “a huge term.” Medvedev pointed out that this was an important and difficult period in terms of organization and the tasks that were being solved.

The prime minister stressed that even taking into account the conditions of the crisis and the sanctions following the reunification of Crimea with Russia, he was pleased with the work of the Cabinet. In this regard, he mentioned successes in import substitution, which allowed the creation of new Russian products and goods, as well as efforts to reduce inflation to three percent. In addition, he drew attention to the implementation of large programs.

“They were installed, adopted by presidential decree in 2012, and then national projects that appeared in 2018. These are the most important state goals that the team of the first government under my leadership and the second government under my leadership worked on. Therefore, in general, I am satisfied with this work, ”Medvedev said.

At the same time, he said that “there were very difficult decisions, painful”, for example, pension reform. In addition, he drew attention to the state of income of citizens.

“Our real disposable incomes (citizens. - RT ) almost did not grow. This, of course, is the result of the general economic situation, but this needs to be addressed. Everyone is talking about this, the president said in a message. And this is probably the key task for the new government, ”concluded the former prime minister.

Recall, the government of Dmitry Medvedev resigned on January 15, soon Vladimir Putin’s address with a message to the Federal Assembly. In it, the president outlined a number of tasks to improve demographic indicators and support young families, and also proposed a package of constitutional amendments.

In particular, the head of state suggested instructing the State Duma not only to coordinate, but also to confirm the candidacy of the prime minister. As the president put it, these measures are aimed at "more effective interaction between the representative and executive branches of government."

Shortly after Medvedev’s resignation, the president proposed heading the government of Mikhail Mishustin, formerly the head of the Federal Tax Service. The next day, the State Duma supported Mishustin's candidacy. 383 parliamentarians voted for him, 41 abstained, no one spoke out against.

New appointment and leadership of United Russia

Speaking about the new appointment to the post of deputy chairman of the Security Council, Medvedev said that there was nothing unexpected in the formation of this post. According to the former prime minister, similar ideas have been discussed before.

“And when the president proposed to become deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation — and the president is the chairman of the Constitution — I naturally agreed, because this is important, necessary work, it seems to me,” the ex-head of the Cabinet explained.

In addition, Medvedev noted that he would remain the chairman of the United Russia party, since the post of deputy head of the Security Council “does not contradict political activities, including party leadership.”

“I remain the chairman of the United Russia party. This is our leading political force, this is the ruling party. She has a huge responsibility to our people, to the country for the development of the country, ”said the former head of the Cabinet.

We add that on January 17 a meeting of the new Prime Minister Mishustin with Medvedev and members of the government in full force, which continues to fulfill its duties, took place.

In a conversation with ministers, Mishustin emphasized that it is important to implement the provisions outlined by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his message to the Federal Assembly.

“The most important thing for today is to focus on fulfilling the provisions of the president’s message to the Federal Assembly, which we all deal with,” Mishustin said.