President Vladimir Putin rebuffed critics on Tuesday who have questioned Russia’s commitment to democracy and its role in the G8, saying his country belonged in the powerful group and would ensure that the G8 did not become just an elite club of ”fat cats”.
”I know the mood of the leaders of the G8” countries, Putin said at a Kremlin news conference. ”No one is against, all are in favour of Russia’s presence in the G8.”
Critics at home and in the West have accused Putin of enacting policies that concentrate too much power in the Kremlin, that curb development of civil society in Russia and that amount to a rollback of democratic gains made by Russia since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
They have questioned as a result whether Russia is fit to lead the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries, as it has done since January 1 when it assumed the group’s rotating presidency for the first time.
Putin however would have none of it. He defended what he said was his country’s current need for a strong presidency and the enactment of a controversial new law imposing tighter restrictions on non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and he said Russia had a unique role to play in the G8.
”No one wants the G8 to turn into a gathering of fat cats,” Putin said.
He dismissed those in the West who have voiced skepticism about Russia’s presence at the helm of the G8 as ”hardline Sovietologists who do not understand what is happening” in Russia today.
”It is useless to talk with them. … To talk with them is only to help them,” Putin said. ”I have one small response to them: Pshaw!”
A central mission of the group is to alleviate poverty in less developed countries, and Putin said that Russia, which has ”very many poor people” despite its rapid economic growth, was in a better position than other G8 members to voice the concerns of emerging market economies.
”We understand the problems of developing countries,” Putin said. Trying to find ways to ease the plight of the poor without understanding the needs of the poor was ”like trying to resolve issues of nuclear security without any participation of the main nuclear powers.”
The 53-year-old Russian leader, who held forth for more than three and half hours before 1 000 journalists, said he wanted to see genuinely independent NGOs play an active role in Russian society.
At the same time, he defended the new NGO law as a needed check to ensure they were not used as vehicles for channeling funds from foreign governments to groups or individuals whose activities were subversive to the Russian state.
And he made no apologies for moves during his term in office to strengthen presidential authority in Russia that have been questioned by foreign governments and domestic critics.
”I deeply believe that in the post-Soviet space, in conditions of a developing economy, of a strengthening state, in conditions of forming definitive principles of federalism we need a strong presidential power” in Russia, Putin said.
”There are so far no stable nationwide political parties. In such conditions, how can we speak of a party-based government? This would be irresponsible,” he said.
”Anything is possible in the future. … But this, in my view, should be something for future generations to consider.” – AFP
