TRANSCRIPT: Address by Dmitry Medvedev
Fellow citizens, compatriots, and friends,
This Sunday, December 4, Russia goes to the polls to elect the State Duma. Seven officially registered political parties are taking part in this election. In accordance with our laws, they have received the conditions needed for fair and free competition. I hope you have had the chance during the campaign to judge for yourselves not only the different parties' programmes, but also their actual acts, as most of them are represented in the current parliament. I want to stress the point that elections are one of the highest manifestations of democracy. Your personal participation in this election will decide what our new Russian parliament will look like. Every adult citizen of our country has the right to come to the polling station and freely cast their vote for the political party of their choice.
People perform many of the truly good, right, and important acts in life not out of obligation, but out of a sense of responsibility, the call of their heart, moral considerations, and the awareness that only we ourselves can make our lives better. No one else can do it for us.
Do something right and important come to cast your vote in the parliamentary election and decide who will represent you in the State Duma, our highest representative body. Electing the new parliament is our chance to have a big impact on the way the federal authorities in general will work over the coming years, and decide the fate of many needed economic and social development measures, health and education reforms, measures to combat corruption and crime, and measures to protect our country against external threats.
How much time will you spend coming to vote? Not much. Half an hour, perhaps, an hour? But this hour will decide what kind of parliament we live with for the next five years. This hour will decide whether we have a parliament riven by irreconcilable differences and unable to actually decide anything, as has sadly been the case in our past, or whether we have an effective law-making body in which the majority of members are responsible politicians capable of making real improvements to our people's lives and guided by the interests of the voters and the country.
Friends, our citizens' direct and free participation in elections is one of Russia's indisputable achievements of these last decades. People's power is fully realised on election day. I am sure that, together, we will build a truly modern and highly developed Russia that offers us a comfortable environment for life. I therefore call on you to make the right choice on December 4. Vote for those who you believe will look after your interests, understand the economy, have experience in overcoming crisis situations, are capable of defending our homeland and preserving it for our children, understand you well, and speak to you the truth.
Vote for those you believe in. Vote for Russia's future!
