RUSSIALINK RIA Novosti: Kremlin dismisses report on young people as top election theme

(RIA Novosti – June 8, 2017)

Moscow, 8 June: Issues concerning young people always become one of the main themes in an election campaign, but to say that this theme will be the only priority is primitive oversimplification, the press secretary of the head of state, Dmitry Peskov, said.

Citing sources, the Vedomosti newspaper reported earlier (bit.ly/2rQGutl) that one of the priority themes during the 2018 presidential election [in which Vladimir Putin is expected to seek re-election] would be the problems of young people. According to the publication, the election campaign will cover the quality of education, employment of young people, loan programmes, the digital economy, and security. Reports are being prepared by pollsters.

“This is an absolutely primitive oversimplification of the substantive aspect of the work that is being carried out, because, of course, polling is conducted not only on young people, but also on very diverse segments of the population, including young people, veterans, residents of rural areas, workers, engineers, civil servants and so on and so forth. Information about each of these segments is extremely important and is being studied very thoroughly. To say that this will just be about young people amounts to primitive oversimplification and a lack of understanding of how the work is being conducted,” Peskov said commenting on the publication.

“Young people are always one of the top themes on which the emphasis is made,” Vladimir Putin’s press secretary added.

[featured image is file photo]