Deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation shared their impressions of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s report in the State Duma

On Thursday, deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation shared with journalists their impressions of the annual report of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, which took place the day before in the State Duma. Party members again praised the government for the constructive dialogue and once again expressed hope that it would adopt their “victory program” and “development budget.” It was not possible, however, without continuing the discussion that began in the Duma between the communists and the head of government on the problem of poverty, which, as it turned out, they see differently.

Speaking on April 3 at the plenary meeting of the Duma after report Mikhail Mishustin, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov sharply criticized the previous governments of the Russian Federation, the first four of which, in his words, “were openly engaged in the destruction of the country,” and praised the current White House team for its organization and for the fact that it “has a solution to every issue.” a clear answer in numbers, facts, specific proposals, programs.”

But in order to further increase the pace of development of the country, it would be good for the government to take into account the proposals of the Communist Party, concerning, in particular, the banking and tax system, Mr. Zyuganov urged the Prime Minister.

At a press conference in TASS on April 4, the Communists generally repeated these assessments. The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation said that when ten representatives of the faction met with Mr. Mishustin on the eve of the government report, 17 documents were placed on his table, including a “victory program” and a “development budget.” “We see a way out of the impasse in changing course. We proposed a development budget 10 trillion more than what we have. The President’s message additionally requires an increase in spending by 7.5 trillion. Our budget already provided for this. The new government, I think, should start from this development budget,” emphasized Gennady Zyuganov.

Deputy Dmitry Novikov expressed the opinion that “a certain turnaround” in the work of the government is connected with the “fundamental realities of the modern world”: “Once again, in the conditions of the capitalist crisis, the question of choosing between socialism and fascism arises. And although the government is not particularly drawn into ideological discussions, it, in fact, becomes clear to it that the problems of preserving and developing Russia can be solved using the proposals and approaches that our party offers.” Mr. Novikov also expressed hope that the White House will listen to the proposals of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, since members of the government “are pragmatists rather than liberal dogmatists.”

However, the communists also found a reason for complaints against the prime minister, related to different assessments of the standard of living of Russians.

This debate began during the Duma report, when Mr. Zyuganov named poverty as one of Russia’s “four pressing problems” (along with personal security, migration and education). “This is abnormal when in the richest country in the world a third of citizens live on 20 thousand rubles or less,” said the chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Central Committee at the time. But Mr. Mishustin, in his concluding remarks, strongly disagreed with the “communist” statistics: “20 thousand rubles on average is not so. The average salary in the country is 73 thousand rubles.”

At a press conference on April 4, deputy Nina Ostanina considered it necessary to once again support her leader, whose ten-minute speech “in terms of content contained more than an hour and a half government report,” and continued the correspondence discussion with the prime minister. “Silence and understatement are not good for the government. The main issue is economic growth of 3.6%. 73 thousand rubles, judging by the government report, is the average salary. Why then in 2020 the country’s population decreased by 700 thousand? Next year – by 1 million, 2022 – minus 600 thousand, 2023 – minus 500 thousand…” – Mrs. Ostanina asked rhetorically. According to her, immediately after the head of government presented his statistics on salaries, she received several calls from teachers from the Orenburg region: “23 thousand, nothing has changed. You can’t spread this “average hospital temperature” around the country and say that we have 73 thousand today!”

Other communists, however, did not continue the dangerous topic, preferring more “peaceful” news. For example, deputy Yuri Afonin spoke about the completion of preparation of the draft Labor Code in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation: parliamentary hearings on it should be held on May 16, after which the document will be submitted to the Duma.

Since the 90s, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has been a “centaur”, combining demonstrative opposition and the ability to negotiate with the authorities, political scientist Alexei Makarkin explains the dualism manifested in the position of the communists. “The party is maneuvering. The communists have their quota in the Duma, and as such they need good relations with the government. At the same time, they have an electoral base that is much more protestive than the party leadership. This asset is extremely important for the communists, and they give him signals that they are the opposition, they criticize, they are dissatisfied,” the expert notes.

Ksenia Veretennikova