Russia should gradually modernize the political system by decentralizing state power, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
"Gradual and steady modernization of the political system - in my view, that is what we need," Medvedev said at the Yaroslavl Global Policy Forum.
"A society that has many groups and centers of influence needs further decentralization of state power," the president said. "The direction of the Russian government's development is toward the transfer of some state functions to public organizations and more powers to regional authorities."
Election laws have become more sensitive to the principle of ideological and political diversity in recent years, he said.
