Prime Minister Vladimir Putin spoke on Wednesday against a proposal to highlight in the Constitution the dominant role of the Russian people in the country.
The idea was voiced by lawmakers in the State Duma, who argued in favor of replacing the current Constitutional description of Russia as a “multinational people.”
A better wording would be “Russians and allied nations,” a representative for the Communist Party said during Putin’s report to the State Duma. But Putin dismissed the proposal.
“Do you understand what we would do there? We’d make part of our society first-class people and part second class,” Putin said. “We shouldn’t do this.”
He also cautioned against creation of separatist and nationalist political parties, noting that Russia is a “complex federative state.”
However, Putin also said that ethnic Russians are “the backbone and the foundation of the multinational Russian people.”
The 141-million Russian population comprises about 180 nations, of whom ethnic Russians constitute about 80 percent, according to the 2010 national census.
