MOSCOW - Members of the Communist Party and Agrarian factions in the State Duma have sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, demanding that he dissolve the cabinet. Citing Sergei Glazyev, a member of the Communist faction, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper reports that left-wingers are going to seek the resignation of the government. At the same time, they continue to prepare a referendum against the sale of farmland and some other government reforms.
This is not the first time this year that the Communist Party has called for the resignation of the government. The latest move was triggered by wage arrears to state employees. According to Mr. Glazyev, wage arrears have accrued in 17 regions across Russia, and in some regions doctors and teachers have not received salaries for the third straight month. “The government does not meet its social obligations to citizens, in terms of budget financing. It tries to repay debts to foreign creditors while ignoring the problems of the population,” he said.
Mr. Glazyev said the federal budget played the role of a “pump” siphoning money from domestic manufacturing to Western creditors. He said the country was hit by an economic depression, again. Latest opinion polls showed that the Communist Party’s initiative can find support from certain social groups. According to the Romir independent research center, Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu is the only minister who enjoys a high approval rating: 41 percent of those polled said they approved of his performance. The rest of the cabinet ministers had very low approval ratings. /RosBusinessConsulting/