President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia''s democracy is weak, its economy ailing and it faces long-term problems with the health of its population.

Medvedev''s comments in an article published in Russian newspapers Friday are some of the starkest assessments to date from the Kremlin about the problems the country faces.

He says the country''s political system needs to be "open, flexible and complex" and that there should also be a regular turnover of political parties in power as a result of competitive elections.

Medvedev writes, "An ineffective economy, a semi-Soviet social sphere, a weak democracy, negative demographic trends and an unstable Caucasus. These are very big problems even for a state like Russia."