United Russia with crisis package for regions

In the recent United Russia party congress, party leader Vladimir Putin made it clear that the success of the party will depend on the successful handling of the crisis now unfolding in the country. The speech quickly made party officials start a hectic campaign on the elaboration of anti-crisis measures. A part of the anti-crisis package is the establishment of special party units in the regions, which are to aid the regional administrations with crisis management. -The regional elites do not understand that they will have to face the threats, member of the Federation Council and party representative Andrey Khasin says to newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta. –The regional leaders have lost ties with reality, he adds. Mr. Khasin maintains that the mission of the United Russia party now is to lead the governors many administrations now pass 2009 budgets “as if there are no signs of crisis”. -We have to place the regional power under strict control, he says, adding that The party headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin The new United Russia offices intend to assist the governors with balancing the regional budgets, analyze the situation and recommend ways to ease the consequences of the crisis Meanwhile, the United Russia’s regional crisis approach spurs strong reactions from several regional leaders, among them Governor of Murmansk Oblast Yuri Yevdokimov. He says to Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the regions have taken measures against the crisis. -I absolutely do not agree – it is they and not we – that have lost contact with reality, he maintains. –We have created an anti-crisis group before they [the United Russia Party] came up with this initiative, and this group is headed by the governor himself and has members from the law enforcement and economic structures, he maintains.