Russia goes back to Soviet five-year plans?

The subject of five-year plans has surfaced in Russia again. The initiative belongs to the Institute of Social, Economic and Political Research chaired by Senator Nikolai Fyodorov.

The institute develops the pre-election program of United Russia, as well as of the All-Russian People's Front.

Like with the People's Front, the idea of five-year plans became quite a surprise for the opponents of United Russia.

Nikolai Fyodorov said during a news conference on June 2 that the pre-election program of both the party and the front must be prepared by the end of August. In addition, the senator invited representatives of opposition parties to cooperate.

"If, let's say, Mr. Zyuganov or Mr. Zhirinovsky send their experts or if their leaders will come, we will be glad to discuss their issues. If they want to achieve results, I would come and try, if I were in their shoes. Maybe it is hard for someone to do it, pride is an obstacle, as they say. But if you can't do it alone, send your experts instead," RIA Novosti quoted Fyodorov as saying.

As for the five-year plan, this is a work name of the program, the senator said. According to Fyodorov, it is a plan to overcome actual problems. In other words, the document will regulate the schedule, responsible persons and measures of responsibility. The forms of responsibility will be modern and civilized, the senator said. "Political responsibility implies resignation, of course," he said.

The work version of the five-year plan reflects such sections as strategic challenges and goals, priorities for the development of the country, state and local administration issues, the political system functioning, the relations between the state, business and the society, questions related to quality of life, education, culture, healthcare, pension system, social policies, housing, youth policies, environmental security, economic development, international relations, regional development.

The liberal press and politicians reacted utterly predictably: "They are going to take us back to the era of Soviet five-year plans, to Gosplan (state plan), Gossnab (state supplies) and other things," many of them said.

It goes without saying that there are no plans whatsoever to return to the Soviet era. Even if someone would like it to happen it would never be possible to achieve it - the reality is different.

The key aspect in the offered variant is the creation of the mechanism that would give people an opportunity to see and control how the authorities execute their promises.

Oleg Artyukov

Pravda.Ru

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