OREANDA-NEWS. April 25, 2012. In his address at the meeting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that in Russian politics “the president is primarily a consolidating figure for all political forces and citizens.” He added that he considers it proper to resign as chairman of the United Russia party after his inauguration. However, he expressed confidence that he would continue to actively work with the party. “I count on your support in the implementation of the tasks that I formulated as a presidential candidate in this election cycle,” the prime minister said.

Transcript of the beginning of the meeting: Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues and friends. I asked you to join me for a meeting today in order to discuss the situation after the presidential and State Duma elections and to discuss plans for the near future.

As you recall, the United Russia party was established in 2001. It was formed under very difficult circumstances, when the economy and the social sphere were degrading and separatism was rampant. In addition to a consolidating figure, there was need for a consolidating political force, and United Russia has obviously played this role successfully.

I must say, or to be exact, repeat what I have said publicly many times already: the ruling United Russia party played a positive role during the global financial crisis. I am confident that if the government and the majority of the State Duma didn’t work in such a coordinated manner as they did in the past two or three years, then many more of our citizens would have felt the cold abyss into which Russia could have plunged. Thank God, it did not happen. Allow me to repeat that it didn’t happen largely thanks to the very coordinated and effective teamwork of the government and the parliament.

I am grateful to United Russia and above all, of course, to the vast majority of the Russian voters for their support in the presidential election. Now, as we are all well aware, it is time for the most important and most difficult part – the actual work. We now need to perform actual work and achieve concrete results in order to fulfil what was stated during the election campaign as our common goals, in my election articles and other policy documents, including policy documents of United Russia.

However, in our political tradition the president is a non-partisan figure. The Constitution does not forbid the president to be a member of any political party, but in the spirit of our political life the president is primarily a consolidating figure for all political forces and citizens. Therefore, after the inauguration, which will be held on May 7, I consider it proper to resign as chairman of United Russia. This is my first point. Second, I will ask you and party members to convene an extraordinary congress in the second half of May in connection with the fact that Dmitry Medvedev topped the United Russia party list during the State Duma elections and also – as I’m sure you are aware, since I've already mentioned this many times – as president, I will nominate him for the position of Russian prime minister. I believe that it would be appropriate for him to become the party leader. This is how it is done in the world when the government relies on the parliamentary majority. This is the only way to achieve effective cooperation.

Of course, much will need to be done in order to further develop the party. I have already said that it was created in 2001 and, in general, achieved the goals which it set itself. It’s still developing, and it is no secret that in addition to all the positive things in our society that are reflected in the party, many of our society’s problems are also reflected in it. Of course, this must be taken into consideration, especially now under new political arrangements. It is necessary to improve the viability and the political competitiveness of United Russia, if it wants to continue to fight for leadership, and I think that any party should be willing to do so. It needs to prove to citizens and voters that its proposals for the development of the country, the economy and the social sphere are the best for the country in the time period in question. United Russia has everything it needs to preserve this leadership. However, allow me to repeat that we need to be effective, and I very much hope that we will continue to cooperate and, moreover, to do real work together... As you know, I spearheaded the establishment of the party in 2001 and did the work to create it, so I expect that we will work together and I count on your support in the implementation of the tasks I formulated as a presidential candidate in this election cycle. To be sure, these are great and ambitious goals and it’ll be difficult to achieve them. In order to do so, we will need to work very hard together. Only then we will be able to significantly improve the situation in the economy and the social sphere, enhance the quality of the Russian state, and raise the quality of life of our citizens to a whole new level. It is our shared responsibility and our common goal, so this should be the focus of our joint work. That's what I wanted to say to start off the discussion. I will be happy to hear your comments and proposals and would like to invite you to participate in this open and free discussion. Please go ahead.