People's Confidence In President Putin Still Strong

The nation's confidence in President Vladimir Putin is still strong and stable while popular confidence enjoyed by the government's middle echelons is only half as high, said Pyotr Latyshev, presidential envoy to Russia's Urals Federal District. Latyshev delivered a report at today's session of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, where the development of federalism in Russia and ways to strengthen its presidential branch were discussed. "Society has not yet come to feel changes in the work of local bodies of power," Latyshev said. "This makes one think of the necessity of a dialogue between society and the government, of their interaction." Boris Topornin, director of the Academy's State and Law Institute, pointed out that the establishment of federal districts in Russia and the appointment of presidential envoys for control were the most significant state-development effort of last year. The task of preserving the country's integrity called for a sweeping change, he noted. Today's discussion involved Constitutional Court Chairman Marat Baglai, Vladimir Platonov, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council (parliament's upper house), high-profile politician Ramazan Abdulatipov, and acclaimed specialists in law and economics. Yuri Osipov, President of the Academy of Sciences, described the debate as "very interesting." Panel discussions of acute problems of the country's modern-day development could be hosted by the Academy, which in recent years has contributed many analytical materials and proposals on major socio-political problems, the academy president suggested.

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