MOSCOW, Nov 23 ― Russian leader Vladimir Putin is set today to address a United Russia convention as the ruling party struggles to overcome a crisis amid the public's growing desire for change. United Russia, which was established in 2001 and turns 18 next weekend, has been a legislative...
Vladimir Putin distances himself from United Russia, and his spokesman Dmitry Peskov this week reiterated that although the president would address the convention, he is not its leader. — Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin pic via Reuters
In recent years its popularity has floundered amid mounting economic troubles and unpopular government decisions and its current rating hovers just above a record low of 32 percent. Observers say the Kremlin underestimates the scale of the party's crisis and rule out any major reforms. Saturday's goal is to “raise the party's popularity and signal that Putin is still with it,” said Konstantin Kalachev, head of the Political Expert Group think tank.
The convention, which is to be held in a Soviet-era exhibition centre in Moscow, would review the results of this year's elections and address preparations for legislative polls in 2021.Unlike in many other countries, where the ruling party typically forms the government, United Russia does not make independent decisions and only rubber-stamps Kremlin and government initiatives.
Kalachev said United Russia serves as a “lightning rod” for the criticism of the authorities' failures like rising poverty, corruption and ever-swelling bureaucracy. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they believe the ruling party should “periodically change,” the VTsIOM said on Thursday.
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