Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold meetings with opposition leaders later this month to discuss his plan for political reform, a senior Kremlin source said on Wednesday.
“The main topic that the president would like to discuss is political reform on the basis of the proposals which he put forth during his state-of-the-nation address,” the source told RIA Novosti.
Addressing the full Russian parliament in December, Medvedev proposed a host of liberal reforms, including reinstating direct elections of regional governors and simplifying the procedure for registering political parties.
“Everybody wishing to discuss the president’s initiatives will be invited,” the source said.
He did not specify who exactly would be summoned, saying it would be leaders of both parliamentary and non-parliamentary parties, both registered and unregistered.
Vedomosti daily said earlier on Wednesday Medvedev will meet with leaders of up to 7 unregistered parties on February 20.
Opposition leaders Boris Nemtsov, Sergei Udaltsov and firebrand politician Eduard Limonov are all leaders of unregistered parties.
The source said however that Medvedev would not discuss December’s disputed parliamentary elections and “rally activity.”
Claims of fraud in favor of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party at December’s parliamentary polls have sparked the biggest anti-government protests seen in Russia in decades.
The latest demonstration came on Saturday, February 4, exactly a month before Medvedev’s mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will seek to return to his old job in the Kremlin.
Speaking after the first two mass rallies in December, Putin said protesters lacked a common position.
“Who should we talk with?” he told reporters. “They should come together with some form of joint platform and joint positions so we can understand what these people want. They are very different.”
