Medvedev steps back, vows ‘fair decisions’
President Dmitry Medvedev convened on Tuesday the first session of Russia's newly-elected parliament despite a wave of protests over alleged fraud that helped the ruling party cling on to its majority. During the meeting Medvedev said that most of committees in the lower house must be headed by parliamentary opposition figures in order to speed up the reform of the political system.
Participating at the meeting were Chairman of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov, Secretary of the United Russia's Supreme Council Sergei Neverov, Chairman of the Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov, Vice-Chairman of the same party Ivan Melnikov, Leader of the A Just Russia Party Nicolay Levichev, Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky and his son.
Medvedev touched upon the alleged violations during the December 4 parliamentary vote and stressed that election commissions and courts "must thoroughly examine all the complaints and respective appeals" and make fair decisions in cases where violations are revealed.
Medvedev topped the election list of the United Russia, which is chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The voters' support for the party has down compared to the 2007 poll. However, it still received almost 50 per cent of the votes. The three other parliamentary parties - Fair Russia, the Liberal-Democrats and the Communists - have not only retained their representation in the Duma, but also increased it.
"Not everyone is happy with the results of the popular vote," Medvedev told representatives of the four parliamentary parties at his Gorki residence near Moscow.
The Russian President also called for "more decisive steps" to liberalize the country's political sphere.
"We should make new political decisions, take more decisive steps to eliminate the existing restrictions on political activity," he said, adding that this would help overcome what he described as a "gap between various social groups, as well as individual [political] institutions," he said.
Some media believe that Medvedev took the decision after Russian-based billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov declared his intention to run in presidential elections in March, 2012. Political observers consider Prokhorov to be a serious rival for Medvedev.
