MOSCOW— President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday
approved one-off payments to law enforcement and military officials ahead of a
parliamentary election next month, a move critics said was designed to
encourage them to vote for the ruling party.
اضافة اعلان
The payments, worth 15,000 rubles ($200) each, will be made
in September to fire fighters, police officers, prosecutors, and soldiers,
among others, according to two decrees signed by Putin and published on the
Kremlin website on Tuesday.
The decrees said the payments were designed to protect the
social needs of those receiving them.
The Kremlin leader last month pledged similar payments to
pensioners, many of whom have been affected by rising food rises and inflation
of 6.5 percent, well above the central bank's 4 percent target.
Kirill Rogov, a political expert who is sometimes critical
of the Kremlin, told the Ekho Moskvy radio station that the payments amounted
to targeted bribes of key voter groups upon whom
Putin relies to remain in
power.
The Kremlin denies the payments are in any way connected
with the elections.
Putin, 68, has been in power as either president or prime
minister since 1999.
He helped found the ruling United Russia party which is
expected to retain its dominance at next month's elections despite a slump in
its rating fuelled by years of stagnating or falling real incomes.
At the party's congress in June, Putin pledged additional
spending on infrastructure, education and health projects designed to boost
living standards.
Putin earlier this year signed legislation barring members
of groups deemed extremist, including allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei
Navalny, from running for office.
The move, critics say, was designed to stamp out opposition
to United Russia. The Kremlin denies the crackdown is political.
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