 |
|
| увеличить фото … |
Dimitri Medvedev’s effort to court youth into politics continues on Thursday when he meets with young members of United Russia. According to Kommersant, the meeting will be attended by party leaders Mintemer Shaimiev and Yuri Luzhkov, General Council secretary Vyacheslav Volodin and young United Russia representatives from the provinces.
The meeting appears to have been thrown together at the spur of the moment, right before Medvedev’s comments on youth policy last week. Little has been said about the actual content of the meeting. According to Alexander Tretyakov, the head of the Perm’s United Russia office, “the delegation has been formed, but still not the full information about the event.” Aleksei Volotskov, a member of Volgograd’s youth council and UR member, said that he only got a request to submit his information for a background check two weeks ago.
As to what the President’s urgency to meet with young URs might be, Vlacheslav Burkov, United Russia member and speaker in Perm’s youth parliament, thinks that it could be about drawing up names for a national parliament for youth under 30. It is the “Year of Youth” as Medvedev’s press secretary told the business daily. Yet, according to Kommersant‘s sources, United Russia has yet to form a plan to addressing young members most pressing concern: forming a cadre of young political reserves. This isn’t expected to happen until the end of the year.
Nevertheless, it seems that Medvedev is taking the appropriate steps to draw fresh blood into the political establishment. As political commentator Dmitri Badivskii told Kommersant, “Medvedev may propose his idea of using the cadre of reserves especially at the municipal level and also propose party candidacy for governor appointments.” Maybe the President’s personal anointing of young people into municipal positions will begin breaking the stranglehold of local elder bureaucrats. Let’s hope so.
Maybe the President’s personal anointing of young people into municipal positions will begin breaking the stranglehold of local elder bureaucrats.
I sure hope not. As a lawyer he must understand that “personal anointing” by the President into municipal positions is unconstitutional.
What is this mythical stranglehold of local elder bureaucrats you are talking about? What are the positions and at what level? Are there any stats?
At least for the federal parliament only few percent of the congresspeople are left from before 1991-93, and less than half from the 2000 – and compare this with gerontocracy in the US congress.
Sean,
some curious racial news:
http://lenta.ru/news/2009/07/22/elections/
Don’t miss it.
“с утра до ночи пахать как негр”
Is this a turn of phrase in Russian? I’m trying to think of an English translation, but everything just sounds wrong. Perhaps it just is.
Kevin Rothrock:
It’s an idiomatic expression, meaning “to work hard”. Another version of that expression would be “пахать как Папа Карло” (a character from the “Pinocchio” tale retold by A. Tolstoy as “Buratino”).
Compare that with Putin’s saying: “Все эти восемь лет я пахал, как раб на галерах”.
Kevin Rothrock: Of course, you understand that along with the original meaning of “to plough [the ground]“, the word “пахать” has a semi-slang meaning of “to work hard”.
Kevin, although it sort of pains me to say this, I think that in contemporary English the correct translation of this not uncommon expression would be something like “to work like a dog.” Or perhaps “to slave away.”
Evgeny,
Of course you undestand that in English slang “plough” means sexual intercourse.
And not only in English.
Chapayev, Petka and Anka are crawling across a field, first Anka, then Petka and Chapayev last.
Petka says to Anka, “Your mother must have been a dancer – your legs are so fine!”
Chapayev responds, “And your father, Petka, must have been a plowman: you are leaving such a deep furrow!”
Candide: Lol. No, I did not.