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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

From Pushkin to Sakharov Square

The Russian opposition has adopted a new form of protest. Will it bring any result?
14 June, 2012 - 00:00
ALL THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE MARCH OF MILLIONS-2, INCLUDING NATIONALISTS (PICTURED ABOVE), AGREE ON ONE POINT, IN SPITE OF DIFFERENT POLITICAL VIEWS: PUTIN MUST GO / REUTERS photo

On June 12 mass protest actions demanding to dismiss Putin were held in Moscow and other Russian cities. Surprisingly, all the actions were authorized by the government within the claimed format. The largest action called the March of Millions-2 was held in the Russian capital. According to the information from the Moscow police, the number of people who participated in the March of Millions reached 18,000 people. However, the organizers of the action assure that 40,000 people took part in it. The previous large action of May 6 had gathered 15 to 20 thousand people.

The March of Millions was broadcasted live on Radio Svoboda, Ekho Moskvy and the television channel Dozhd. However, the latter had difficulties with it. The editor-in-chief of the channel Mikhail Zygar informed that at 11 a.m. its website was attacked by hackers. The radio station Ekho Moskvy was also attacked.

The March of Millions-2 finished with a meeting on Sakharov Square. The participants of the meeting walked in columns from Pushkin Square to the place of the meeting. It is significant that the column was headed by the movement Solidarnost followed by the nationalists carrying imperial flags. The further column consisted of the right-wing walking on the right, left-wing walking on the left and Yabloko in the center.

The movement Solidarnost chanted “Russia will be free!” The left-wing marched with slogans “All power to the people!” and “Down with the police state!” The nationalists chanted “Russian order for Russian people!” and “Glory to Russia!”

It should be noted that the march took place although The Day before the police searched in the apartments of opposition leaders. Many of them were at the Investigation Committee during the protest action. Aleksei Navalny, Ilya Yashin, Anastasia Udaltsova, and TV-presenter Ksenia Sobchak were called in for questioning about the case concerning disorders on Bolotnaya Square.

The Russian MP Ilya Ponomarev said in his interview to Radio Svoboda that the absence of organizers mobilized people.

It is significant that Boris Nemtsov was given a notice of appointment requiring to appear in the Investigation Committee for questioning about the case concerning disorders on Bolotnaya Square on May 6. He addressed those who were present at the meeting: “We walk out as free people. We are peaceful people, they wanted to scare us so that you do not come but we are cool and they did not manage to scare us.” In his short speech the politician emphasized that the opposition had constructive suggestions for the government: liberating the country from the usurper who violates the constitution, strengthening the parliament’s role, and cancelling Putin’s censure.

Meanwhile, the publicist Dmitry Bykov was even more eloquent: “It is the time for calm actions. Our positive thinking is that if there is carrion on our way it should be taken away. They are trying to scare us with searches. During searches we find citizens and they find their end.”

It is significant that the Kremlin state awards were given during the march. During that event Putin declared the necessity to evolve for the Russian state, inadmissibility of social and economic shocks and importance of compromises in discussions about the future of the country. Great words, however, for some reason they diverge with the actions of the Russian authorities who do not want to listen to the opposition.

The journalist Viktor Shenderovich opines that the chance for the opposition is still in a mass, peaceful, coordinated, and permanent public pressure upon the authorities. “Total video surveillance of Moscow boulevards and avenues. Organizing a referendum, strengthening the democratic springboard, solidarity with political prisoners, outreach and awareness-raising work… Enlarging and not sharpening the social basis of protest,” he noted in his blog.

The Day asked the observer of Kommersant FM Konstantin EGGERT to comment on the importance of the March of Millions-2.

“I would say that the searches and interrogations of the organizers of the previous march of May 6 were more important than the March of Millions. Thus the authorities have actually enhanced prestige of the opposition and demonstrated that those people have serious political weight since the authorities spend time, forces, and money on them. As for today, everything will depend on the number of people who came to the meeting and how well it will go.

“The fact that the march took place is the evidence that the protest moods have not disappeared. Probably, their participants will look for new forms of protest including the participation in the regional elections. On the one hand, meeting is a traditional form of protest, on the other hand, it does not lead anywhere. That is why it is obvious that the opposition will look for new forms of legal and peaceful political struggle.

“The attempt to consolidate different political forces to struggle against Putin’s regime was made The Day before the march. They reached the agreement acceptable for all the participants of the march. It was predictable since, on the one hand, they had to involve as many participants as possible, and, on the other hand, assure their diversity, starting with liberals, right-wing and left-wing with different platforms and various political interests. It is obvious that, on the one hand, the opposition will remain diverse, and, on the other hand, it will try to work out a single platform of demands for the authorities that will feature in all protest actions.

“Today the authorities that allowed the action in December have no reasons not to allow them now. However, it is obvious that the authorities want to make the protest activity as limited as possible and any violation of the scenario will be penalized. At least, now the Russian authorities do not follow Lukashenko’s way, prohibiting any protest actions. Probably, the authorities realize that people have passed a certain border of discontent they are not going to back people into a corner. I think that the authorities will use the current legislation as much as possible to limit similar actions, however, there will not be any total ban so far.”

By Mykola SIRUK, The Day
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