27/09/2012 - 28/09/2012
Saint Petersbourg - Conference co-organised by the Venice Commission and the Constitutional Court of Russia on "Political parties in a democratic society: legal basis for organisation and activities", held on the premises of the Constitutional Court, St. Petersburg, Russia.
President of the Russian Federation address to the conference:
(unofficial translation from Russian)
Moscow, Kremlin
To organizers and participants of the International Conference on
"Political Parties in a Democratic Society: Legal Basis of Organization and Activities"
I greet participants and organizers of the International Conference on "Political parties in a democratic society: legal basis of organization and activities".
The representative list of participants and extremely rich agenda of the forum provide a good opportunity to conduct open and substantive discussions on a wide range of problems determining role and significance of political parties at the current stage of our history.
Development of democratic institutions, creation of opportunities for active and constructive social and political activity of citizens are our key priority. One can hardly imagine the successful solution of national tasks without fair and just inter-party competition, contest of ideas and programmes, constructive political discussions. It is important that political parties should not only have an opportunity to secure promotion of competent and efficient professionals to bodies of executive and legislative power and structures of local self-government, but they should also serve as an effective mechanism of public and civil scrutiny.
I am confident that new constructive ideas elaborated at the conference will be of great help to politicians and legislators in their search for optimal ways of legal development of party and political life. And, certainly, it is necessary to creatively comprehend the best world and European experience in this field.
I wish you a successful and fruitful work.
Vladimir Putin