Medvedev Unlikely to Modernize United Russia — Analysts
Interfax - 5.24.12 - JRL 2012-96

MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax) - The election Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as Chairman of the United Russia Party will not result in major change in the party's activity, political analysts said.

file photo"United Russia's rating has picked up slightly against the backdrop of the presidential election; we have a new president and a new party leader who is to modernize it in a slightly liberal manner, which is impossible to do because the party is a status quo," Director of the Center for Political Technologies Dmitry Bunin told Interfax on Thursday.

One can only expect insignificant changes with the change of the party leader, he said.

"In principle, some changes can and should be made, but very few and cautious ones," Bunin said.

For his part, Yevgeny Minchenko, Director of the International Institute of Political Analysis, also said that there will not be any major changes in the party's structure and activity.

"I think they will follow the same path. Roughly speaking, the change is in the leader, it will be led by Medvedev, well maximum a few bosses will be changed. But at the moment Medvedev does not have people he could delegate to United Russia," Minchenko said.

Both experts agreed that Medvedev's election as the party leader will not affect his image. "Medvedev's image has always been a derivative of the image of Vladimir Putin," they said.

Medvedev's image is not at risk as "he is still not clear how to position himself," the analyst said.

"Dmitry Anatolyevich is still confused about his positioning. One moment he says he is a conservative and holds a meeting on a sowing campaign, the next moment he again starts a new wave of gadget-mania," Minchenko said.

Keywords: Russia, Politics - Russian News - Russia

MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax) - The election Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as Chairman of the United Russia Party will not result in major change in the party's activity, political analysts said.

file photo"United Russia's rating has picked up slightly against the backdrop of the presidential election; we have a new president and a new party leader who is to modernize it in a slightly liberal manner, which is impossible to do because the party is a status quo," Director of the Center for Political Technologies Dmitry Bunin told Interfax on Thursday.

One can only expect insignificant changes with the change of the party leader, he said.

"In principle, some changes can and should be made, but very few and cautious ones," Bunin said.

For his part, Yevgeny Minchenko, Director of the International Institute of Political Analysis, also said that there will not be any major changes in the party's structure and activity.

"I think they will follow the same path. Roughly speaking, the change is in the leader, it will be led by Medvedev, well maximum a few bosses will be changed. But at the moment Medvedev does not have people he could delegate to United Russia," Minchenko said.

Both experts agreed that Medvedev's election as the party leader will not affect his image. "Medvedev's image has always been a derivative of the image of Vladimir Putin," they said.

Medvedev's image is not at risk as "he is still not clear how to position himself," the analyst said.

"Dmitry Anatolyevich is still confused about his positioning. One moment he says he is a conservative and holds a meeting on a sowing campaign, the next moment he again starts a new wave of gadget-mania," Minchenko said.