LDPR will tackle the problem of demography together with United Russia and the government

The LDPR held a conference on the problems of the demographic situation in Russia on Monday. In addition to the Liberal Democrats themselves, represented by the only party governor, senators, State Duma deputies and regional parliamentarians, representatives of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, experts, State Duma Deputy Speaker from United Russia Anna Kuznetsova and even the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government took part in the discussion of this “strategic” issue RF Tatyana Golikova. Following the event, LDPR Chairman Leonid Slutsky promised to integrate party members from the localities even more closely into projects on a federal scale. According to the political scientist, the authorities’ special attention to the LDPR may be explained by their desire to give the brainchild of the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky the status of the second party in Russia.

The liberal democrats outlined the extraordinary scale of the meeting already at the announcement stage: the high-status House of Unions was announced as the venue for the expanded party conference. According to the organizers, party members from more than 70 regions arrived at the forum. One of them admitted to Kommersant that he was beginning to get used to the attention of the capital’s leadership, since Leonid Slutsky was “building close work with local cells.”

“Demographic development should become the basis of statehood,” Mr. Slutsky proclaimed at the beginning of the event, later explaining that the party intends to develop “an image of a document” that “could form the basis of a state strategy.” The leader of the LDPR generously delegated one of the key roles in the corresponding process to the regions: “Some of the governors have already called us a liberal-demographic party – we attach great importance to this. We need analysis and consistency of action together with the government and the regions.”

Leonid Slutsky opened the party plan to improve Russian demography with a clause on the “expansion” of Russians into the countryside, since “a family founded “on the land” has more children than a city family”: “At the first stage of resettlement, we propose to build villages around cities, on the periphery large metropolitan areas.” At the same time, the LDPR intends to “draw attention to the problem of loneliness” and help young people find love. “We are fighting various trends, but we have missed the development of the stereotype about the attractiveness of life “solo”, alone,” Mr. Slutsky lamented. ““Solo”, “mono” – it all sounds negative: we will hold an all-Russian forum with an ambiguous for the first perception, but nevertheless (title.— “Kommersant”) “LDPR with love” so that young people get to know each other at their place of residence.” Also, the Liberal Democrats intend to “reformat public opinion”, deformed by ill-wishers who created “a picture where Russians are dying out, and there is poverty all around”: “Yes, increasing the well-being of our citizens and demography go hand in hand, but remember yourself! When you and I had children, did we live with you in complete prosperity? Of course not! Children and money were never put on the same scale.” According to the party leader, the older generations “made a mistake” when they instilled in their children the attitude of “first getting on your feet, and then family and children.”

Following Mr. Slutsky, the relevance of the topic under discussion was emphasized by the head of the Khabarovsk Territory, Mikhail Degtyarev, and by invited experts, and by Anna Kuznetsova, vice speaker of the State Duma from United Russia. “Sometimes we don’t even find common ground,” she greeted colleagues from the rival party. “But when it comes to protecting families and children, our factions act as one.” In this regard, Ms. Kuznetsova even mentioned Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who once complained that in Russia there is still no government structure responsible for demography. In addition to the point on the creation of such a government body, United Russia included “three blocks of topics” in the thematic “road map” – on supporting the well-being of families, developing family infrastructure and universally promoting traditional values.

The long-awaited speech by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, whom the Liberal Democrats greeted standing up, took place without television cameras or microphones. “The topic is sensitive, and our task is the result; “hype” is unacceptable here, even with the prefix “micro”,” explained the LDPR chairman, and later added that he invited the Deputy Prime Minister to speak to fellow party members in order to be with them “in a single system coordinates of understanding the situation.” And the topic of demography is not the last in line for an all-party “synchronization of watches,” warned Leonid Slutsky: “The chairman of the party, the supreme council, deputies, senators – we will meet at least several times a year on significant issues, and meet in the regions.”

Political scientist Evgeniy Minchenko is not surprised by such attention from the executive branch to the Liberal Democrats, since he considers them an element of “a single party in power, part of the ruling coalition.” “Moreover, lately the LDPR has received special attention precisely as a counterweight to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation,” the expert adds. As the “number two party,” the LDPR is much more comfortable for the Kremlin than the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, since the liberal democrats always demonstrate “full controllability and loyalty,” and the communists only from time to time, notes Mr. Minchenko.

Grigory Leiba