Zyuganov: “Fulfilling the President’s wishes and Nikolai Kharitonov’s programme”.

Kharitonov is the Communist Party presidential candidate in the presidential election on the 17^th March.

Labour Affairs Commentary:

In this speech Zyuganov (Secretary General, Communist Party of the Russian Federation) indicates his party’s broad support for the objectives of the government’s programme. In particular, he endorses the view of the President of the Russian Federation that capitalism is at a dead end and emphasises the social nature of the President’s programme. In other words, both the President, United Russia and the Communists wish to turn Russia away from unfettered capitalism towards a more state-directed economy. However, the communists are not happy about the pace at which this is happening, nor are they happy with the government’s measures to reduce social inequality. On this latter point it is hard to disagree with the complaints of the party. The other issue is more difficult to assess. It is clear that the Russian economy is overheating and that there are competing claims on resources both human and material, particularly since Russia is de facto at war with the United States and Europe. The quantity of roubles put into the budget is immaterial if the resources which those roubles are meant to deploy are unavailable, at least at the present time, when the war is on. It should be noted that the Communists fully support the government’s war effort. The question then arises as to whether the Communists’ wish for more resources for social measures such as kindergartens and for increased industrial production are realistic. To this they might reasonably reply that transferring resources from the better off to these programmes via a sales tax would not only be socially equitable but would make resources available for social, municipal and production programmes. The Communists are a loyal and patriotic opposition making some penetrating criticisms of the current government’s intentions.

https://kprf.ru/dep/gosduma/activities/224709.html

Illustration: communist election campaign slogan: “We’ve played at being capitalists – and that’s enough now!”

On 29 February, G.A. Zyuganov, Chairman of the KPRF Central Committee and head of the KPRF parliamentary group in the State Duma, commented on President V.V. Putin’s message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. 

Hello everyone. I’m sure you have listened carefully to Putin’s message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

 The day before, journalists asked me what I expected from this message. I assumed that it would be a pre-election message. I expected the President to respond to our proposals. In this respect, my personal expectations have largely been met.

This was the 19th presidential message, lasting over two hours. It took place against a backdrop of war and 18,000 sanctions against Russia. There is a systemic economic crisis in the world. And there will be presidential elections in Russia in March.

In this message, the social dimension was fundamental. We need to support teachers, doctors and engineers. Around three trillion roubles are needed for this. But the budget that has been approved does not include this money. 

A further 4.5 trillion roubles should be allocated to municipal services. In reality, municipal services need three times as much money. 

Previously, we proposed that the State Duma adopt a development budget of an additional 10,000 billion roubles. In that case, it would have been possible to implement all the President’s proposals. But United Russia rejected our budget proposals.

The President asked us to think about tax policy. We submitted a draft law on progressive taxation to the State Duma six times. We proposed replacing VAT with a sales tax. But United Russia rejected our proposals.

I believe that the presidential programme must be people-centred, not oligarchic.

Putin’s programme is social in spirit and character. Nikolai Kharitonov’s slogan “We have played at being capitalists – enough is enough now” was in fact expressed in every section of the President’s speech. 

Let me remind you that two years ago, V.V. Putin said at the Valdai meeting that capitalism had reached a dead end. Today, we must continue along this path and officially declare that, from now on, we will pursue a socialist policy. We can’t win without that.

V.V. Putin began and ended his speech by thanking those who are fighting. The President said bluntly that nothing can be achieved without this victory.But this victory will be very costly for all of us. To achieve victory, we need to accumulate resources, educate and prepare the new generations. And in the future, to solve all the problems thanks to a patriotic people.The message emphasises the sections “Youth of Russia”, “Cadres of Russia”, “Professional training, education and teaching from the sixth grade”. That’s great! I welcome these sections in general.

But who prevented all this from being implemented before? We have presented the “Education for All and for Life” bill to the State Duma on several occasions. We have put forward proposals on vocational education and suggested that the experience of the Lenin State Farm and the Jaures Alferov University be implemented. Together, in unity, let us energetically implement the positive experiences.But United Russia still refuses our proposals and our experience.

When they talk about a hundred kindergartens for 89 regions, I think that ten times as many should be built. There should be a kindergarten in every neighbourhood.The general thrust of the President’s message is very much in line with the challenges facing our country. It corresponds to the needs of the citizens who gave their opinions during the meetings with Putin. It corresponds to the aspirations of the progressive part of society, which expects a technological breakthrough.

We need to increase funding for basic science. It is high time to abolish the “unified state examination”. Bolonka” has strangled the higher education system. It should be abolished too! There is still no money in the Treasury to implement V.V. Putin’s proposals. 

To implement the President’s proposals, we need a development rate of at least 5-6%. Last year, for the first time in ten years, we exceeded the world development rate (3.6%). 

But as soon as we reached these percentages, Silouanov cut production programmes and added nothing. The Central Bank raised the interest rate to 16%. With a rate like that, there can be no production. The rouble was devalued by 80%. Monetisation has been slowed by 53%. There is no monetisation below 100% in the G20 countries. In China, the indicator is 200%. 

Political will is needed to impose a change of financial and economic course and fill the treasury with resources. The country is facing a serious staffing problem. There are not enough teachers in the schools. There are not enough millers, turners, mechanics or programmers in the factories. To develop our own electronics and robotics, we need to change government structures. The relevant ministries need to be responsible for industry and high-tech sectors.

The Soviet Union used to produce a billion ball bearings. Today, Russia produces 30 million bearings. What sovereignty can we claim if we don’t produce our own bearings? Without strategic planning, it is impossible to solve these problems. For the first time, V.V. Putin has called for a programme for the next six years. But we introduced the law on strategic planning in 2013. And they signed it. However, the government doesn’t plan anything, not even three years in advance, and adjusts its plans every year. This message has made it possible to take positive, concrete steps to strengthen our security and mobilise society. But if we don’t solve the problem of budget saturation, if we don’t train the right staff, if we don’t improve the system of management and personal responsibility, many of the President’s wishes will remain unfulfilled. I believe that Nikolai Kharitonov’s programme and our unique experience will always be in demand.

I wish us all success in fulfilling the President’s wishes and Nikolai Kharitonov’s election programme.

(Note: due to timing, this did not appear in our paper and PDF versions of Labour Affairs)