The Russian leadership should maintain contacts with all political forces, not just those represented in the State Duma, President Dmitry Medvedev said.
“The political leadership should continually talk to all political forces, not just Duma parties,” Medvedev said on Tuesday at a news conference in Seoul.
He added that Russian leadership must also take into account the opinion of those who criticize the government.
Medvedev said he hoped the term “nonestablishment opposition” would soon become history in Russia.
“If there is opposition it acts on the basis of laws, including the law on political parties, as well as other laws, so it is ‘establishment’ in any case,” he said.
“It can be hardline, radical opposition or it can be soft, but it is legal opposition all the same, whereas he who flouts laws is a criminal, not a member of the opposition.”
