Not much of a surprise, given last week's allegations that the spat was nothing but a puppet show, that United Russia and A Just Russia have buried the hatchet. But what you may find surprising is this little soundbite from Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on the political orientation of the former:
"On the whole, United Russia is still a left-center party, not a right-center party, as was planned when it was created," said Kudrin, who is also a deputy prime minister. "And only, I repeat, thanks to certain work by the government, and by Putin personally, have we been able to maintain that balance."
Aren't center-left ideologies usually progressive and democratically-oriented? Just wondering...
