President Dmitry Medvedev’s address to Russian citizens

Ahead of the parliamentary election on December 4, President Dmitry Medvedev has called on Russians to have their say, which he is convinced is a “moral imperative” for all.

Read President Dmitry Medvedev’s full speech.Fellow citizens, countrymen, friends,This Sunday, Dec. 4, elections to the State Duma will be held.All seven of the registered Russian political parties are participating in the election campaign. According to law, they have been provided all the necessary conditions for free and fair competition.You too, I hope, have had an opportunity to consider those parties – both their programs and especially their actual performance, since most of them are represented in the current Duma.I would like to stress that elections are one of the highest manifestations of democracy. Your personal participation will determine what our new Russian parliament will be like. Each and every citizen of voting age is entitled to come to the polling station and vote freely for a political force they trust.But when people do something that is really good, appropriate and important, it is often not out of duty.  We do it because we feel responsible. It is the call of the heart. It is a moral imperative. We do it because we are aware that nobody except ourselves will make our life better. No one but us.Please take this important and proper step. Come to vote for State Duma deputies. Choose whom you want to represent you in Russia’s supreme legislative body.Our choice of the new Duma will have a great effect on the way the federal government in general will be working the next few years, whether necessary measures will be taken to further develop the economy and public services, to increase wages and pensions, to reform education and health care, to fight corruption and crime, and, finally, to protect our country against external threats.How much time will it take you to come and vote? Not much, perhaps 30 minutes or an hour. But this hour will determine what parliament our country will have for the next five years. Will the parliament be torn apart by irreconcilable differences, unable to decide anything – something that, unfortunately, has happened in the past? Or will we get an effective legislative assembly, with a majority of the deputies being responsible politicians who can really raise the standard of living in our country, politicians who are guided by the voters’ interests and Russia’s national interests?Dear friends,Direct and free participation of our citizens in elections is clearly an important achievement of the past decade. On such days, we see that power really belongs to the people. I am confident that together we will make Russia a really modern and highly-developed country that will be comfortable to live in.So please make the right choice on Dec. 4. Vote for those who you think will advance your interest, who are competent in economics and experienced in tackling crises, who can protect our homeland and preserve it for our children, who understand you well and tell you the truth. Vote for those whom you trust. Vote for Russia’s future.