A group of Russian politicians and political analysts have announced the launch of a new Internet project aimed at overcoming the current political crisis, Interfax news agency reported on 19 December. The purpose of the new portal is "a collective search of political solutions to create an effective, modern state in Russia that would be accountable to its citizens", the report said, quoting the authors of the project, who presented it at a news conference in Moscow.
The list of the organizers includes a former co-chairman of the Right Cause party, Leonid Gozman; deputy head of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations Yevgeniy Gontmakher; vice-president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneur Igor Yurgens; head of the Strategic Developments Centre Mikhail Dmitriyev, and political analyst Dmitriy Oreshkin, Interfax said. The report quoted them as saying at the news conference that "a search for answers to the questions that, among others, are being voiced at numerous rallies, is a task not only for politicians and experts but for all the citizens of the country".
The report further quoted from a statement issued by the project organizers, saying that "rallies can prompt changes but, by themselves, cannot resolve problems facing the country".
A RIA Novosti news agency report on the same day quoted pundit Mikhail Dmitriyev as saying: "We are announcing the creation of an Internet resource that we call 'Vykhod est' (Rus: there is a way out). The point of this Internet resource is to involve a broadest possible circle of people who are interested in comprehending the country's political prospects in a specific discussion of possible alternatives to quite objective political problems."
He went on to explain that the discussion should cover various issues, including whether there should be a re-count of votes cast in the 4 December parliamentary election or whether the election results should be cancelled; how laws on elections and political parties should be amended; whether it is necessary to restore direct elections of regional heads or form the government on the basis of a parliamentary majority. Dmitriyev added that the website would operate in a wiki format, where each user would be able to leave their comments.
The same RIA Novosti report quoted Leonid Gozman as saying that given a rise in protest sentiments in the country, the new website should be instrumental in searching for a way out of the deadlock which would satisfy not only "those who will go to (the protest in) Prospekt Sakharova (avenue in Moscow) on 24 December" but also that section of society that "the wrath of the people from (the 10 December large-scale rally in Moscow's) Bolotnaya Ploshchad was addressed" against. He went on to add that representatives of the authorities should also take part in this discussion.
(BBC Monitoring has been unable to find the address of the launched website. It appears that it has not been set up or made available yet.)
A group of Russian politicians and political analysts have announced the launch of a new Internet project aimed at overcoming the current political crisis, Interfax news agency reported on 19 December.
The purpose of the new portal is "a collective search of political solutions to create an effective, modern state in Russia that would be accountable to its citizens", the report said, quoting the authors of the project, who presented it at a news conference in Moscow.
The list of the organizers includes a former co-chairman of the Right Cause party, Leonid Gozman; deputy head of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations Yevgeniy Gontmakher; vice-president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneur Igor Yurgens; head of the Strategic Developments Centre Mikhail Dmitriyev, and political analyst Dmitriy Oreshkin, Interfax said. The report quoted them as saying at the news conference that "a search for answers to the questions that, among others, are being voiced at numerous rallies, is a task not only for politicians and experts but for all the citizens of the country".
The report further quoted from a statement issued by the project organizers, saying that "rallies can prompt changes but, by themselves, cannot resolve problems facing the country".
A RIA Novosti news agency report on the same day quoted pundit Mikhail Dmitriyev as saying: "We are announcing the creation of an Internet resource that we call 'Vykhod est' (Rus: there is a way out). The point of this Internet resource is to involve a broadest possible circle of people who are interested in comprehending the country's political prospects in a specific discussion of possible alternatives to quite objective political problems."
He went on to explain that the discussion should cover various issues, including whether there should be a re-count of votes cast in the 4 December parliamentary election or whether the election results should be cancelled; how laws on elections and political parties should be amended; whether it is necessary to restore direct elections of regional heads or form the government on the basis of a parliamentary majority. Dmitriyev added that the website would operate in a wiki format, where each user would be able to leave their comments.
The same RIA Novosti report quoted Leonid Gozman as saying that given a rise in protest sentiments in the country, the new website should be instrumental in searching for a way out of the deadlock which would satisfy not only "those who will go to (the protest in) Prospekt Sakharova (avenue in Moscow) on 24 December" but also that section of society that "the wrath of the people from (the 10 December large-scale rally in Moscow's) Bolotnaya Ploshchad was addressed" against. He went on to add that representatives of the authorities should also take part in this discussion.
(BBC Monitoring has been unable to find the address of the launched website. It appears that it has not been set up or made available yet.)