3,500 supporters of United Russia party to gather in Moscow

A total of 3,500 supporters of the United Russia party are due to arrive in Moscow on June 28th to participate in the party forum, a member of the United Russia general council, Andrey Isayev, stated at a press conference on Friday.

According to Isayev, representatives of regional organisations and party supporters will bring to Moscow their proposals to form the party's platform for the near future.

"The forum of supporters is a new type of feedback and interaction with society," Isayev stressed. According to him, the forum participants will discuss the most acute issue for today - creation of conditions to increase the Russians' incomes. "Our common task is to concentrate our efforts in order to achieve the country's strategic objectives set in the Russian President's State of the Union Address /to the Federal Assembly/," Isayev stressed.

Isayev added that there were a lot of people not ready to become members of a party, but they would like to participate in party activities. In this context he pointed out that the United Russian charter had provisions concerning supporters. "This is part of our ideology, as we want to make power dependent on people, not otherwise," Isayev stressed.

On her part, First Vice Speaker of the State Duma /the parliament's lower chamber/ and member of the United Russia general council Lyubov Sliska stressed that society needed "a political power to support the Russian President without his being its member". She pointed out that the Duma centrist factions had proved over tree years that they supported the Russian head of state.

Russian Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasilyev representing supporters of the United Russian faction stressed that the upcoming forum must break "the wall between the state and the people". "There are a lot of people shut off from the state and vice versa," he added. Vasilyev also said that it was necessary to direct all potential of the society to resolve its problems".